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President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus again on Saturday, his doctor said, after experiencing a “rebound” from Paxlovid.
The president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said Biden tested negative Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning. He tested positive Saturday morning using an antigen test.
Doctors have warned that people receiving the antiviral drug Paxlovid can experience “rebound” infections days after initially testing negative, although data on the frequency of occurrence and its long-term effects remain unclear .
O’Connor said in a letter that Biden has not experienced a recurrence of symptoms and “continues to be doing quite well.”
“That being the case, there is no reason to restart treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue to watch closely,” O’Connor wrote. Biden will once again isolate himself in the White House, O’Connor added.
Biden had planned to travel to Wilmington, Del., on Sunday and Hemlock, Mich., on Tuesday, but both trips have been canceled, two White House officials said.
The trip to Michigan was for an event in support of a $52 billion bill to subsidize computer chip manufacturing and research and counter China’s influence, known as the CHIPS and Science Act. The legislation passed both houses of Congress this week and is awaiting Biden’s signature. It was unclear whether Biden would participate in Tuesday’s event remotely.
Biden was likely infected with the BA.5 variant, O’Connor said last week, an omicron subvariant that has become dominant in the United States and is the most transmissible version of the virus to date. BA.5 has shown a remarkable ability to escape the immune protection afforded by vaccines and prior coronavirus infection.
Biden emerged from his five-day self-isolation on Wednesday and delivered a speech from the Rose Garden about how his mild covid infection was a reflection of the administration’s pandemic response and the tools it had put at its disposal, including antivirals, home tests and boosters. .
He held a series of public events this week in support of the CHIPS bill and the economy. Biden held no public events on Friday.
Biden took off his mask for some of the events. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden still met Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines because he was more than six feet away from others.
CDC guidelines recommend that people self-isolate for five days after testing positive for the coronavirus and wear a mask for an additional five days when around other people. Some experts have said the guidance could lead to people returning to work or leaving isolation when they are still potentially infectious.
In addition to Biden, notable figures who experienced rebound infections include Anthony S. Fauci, 81, the president’s chief medical adviser, who contracted the coronavirus earlier this summer. Rebound infection can also lead to more complications, as with the initial infection, but many people describe their symptoms as mild.
Paxlovid, which is taken over a five-day course, suppresses the amount of virus in a person’s system while taking the treatment. Some experts theorize that rebound infections occur because the five-day course is too short and should be extended several days to ensure the virus has been eradicated.
Biden addressed his rebound case on Twitter Saturday, but assured people he was still working and would be traveling again soon.
“Friends, I tested positive for COVID again today. This happens to a small minority of people,” Biden wrote on Twitter. “I have no symptoms, but I will be isolating myself for the safety of everyone around me. I am still at work and will be back on the road soon.”
Dan Diamond contributed to this report.