Jill Biden has ‘rebound’ COVID-19, President Negative
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP)
First lady Jill Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 again in an apparent “rebound” case, after she initially tested negative for the virus over the weekend.
President Joe Biden, three days with his wife at their Rehoboth Beach, Del. vacation home, continues to test negative, the White House said. He also suffered a rebound case earlier this month after an initial recovery from the virus.
Jill Biden first tested positive for the virus on Aug. 15, when she and her husband were vacationing in Kiawah Island, S.C. She isolated in the beach town until she received two negative tests and was cleared to meet the president in Delaware on Sunday.
Biden’s deputy communications director Kelsey Donohue said she “has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and will remain in Delaware where she has reinitiated isolation procedures.” She added: “The White House Medical Unit has conducted contact tracing and close contacts have been notified.”
Jill Biden, 71, like her husband, has been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. She had been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which has proven to be highly effective at preventing serious disease and death among those at highest risk from COVID-19, but a minority of those prescribed the drug have experienced a rebound case of the virus a few days after their initial recovery.
The White House said the president was considered a close contact, and would wear a mask “for 10 days when indoors and in close proximity to others” in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. The White House will also increase the frequency of his COVID-19 testing.
The White House announced on Tuesday that the 71-year-old first lady, who like her husband has been twice-vaccinated and twice-boosted with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, had tested positive for the coronavirus. She first had symptoms on Monday.
The 79-year-old president recovered from a rebound case of the virus on Aug. 7.
Jill Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and isolated at the Kiawah Island vacation home for five days before receiving negative results from two consecutive COVID-19 tests, spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said. Jill Biden planned to travel to Delaware later Sunday.
First lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing “mild symptoms,” the White House announced Tuesday August 16th.
She had been vacationing with President Joe Biden in South Carolina when she began experiencing symptoms on Monday. She has been prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and will isolate at the vacation home for at least five days.
Before starting their family vacation, President Joe Biden had tested negative for the virus 10 days ago, the White House said, he wore a mask indoors for 10 days in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. He recovered from a rebound case of the virus on Aug. 7.
President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 , but will continue to isolate at the White House until a second negative test, his doctor said.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote in his latest daily update that the president, “in an abundance of caution,” will abide by the “strict isolation measures” in place since his “rebound” infection was detected July 30, pending a follow-up negative result.
Biden, 79, came down with the virus a second time three days after he had emerged from isolation from his initial bout with COVID-19, reported on July 21. There have been rare rebound cases documented among a small minority of those, who like Biden, were prescribed the anti-viral medication Paxlovid, which has been proved to reduce the risk of serious illness and death from the virus among those at highest risk.
O’Connor wrote that Biden “continues to feel very well.”
Biden’s travel has been on hold as he awaited a negative test. He plans to visit Kentucky on Monday to view damage from catastrophic flooding and meet with families.
Biden was “doing great,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday when asked about his health during her appearance in Las Vegas at a joint conference of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She said that when she speaks to the president, he tells her to “tell folks I’ve been working eight-plus hours a day.”
During his first go-around with the virus, Biden’s primary symptoms were a runny nose, fatigue and a loose cough, his doctor said at the time. During his rebound case, O’Connor said only Biden’s cough returned and had “almost completely resolved” by Friday.
Regulators are still studying the prevalence and virulence of rebound cases, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May warned doctors that it has been reported to occur within two days to eight days after initially testing negative for the virus.
“Limited information currently available from case reports suggests that persons treated with Paxlovid who experience COVID-19 rebound have had mild illness; there are no reports of severe disease,” the agency said at the time.
