The president first tested positive for COVID-19 on July 12
President Joe Biden was cleared to return to public duties after being diagnosed with COVID-19 for the second time.
His physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, announced that Biden was cleared to emerge from isolation in a letter shared Sunday via Twitter, writing, “This morning, the President’s SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing was negative for a second consecutive day.”
“He will safely return to public engagement and presidential travel,” he added.
President Biden tested negative for COVID-19 and will safely return to public engagement. A note from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Physician to the President. pic.twitter.com/rV7C1OSYZq
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 7, 2022
O’Connor wrote Saturday that Biden had tested negative, however, he was continuing his “strict isolation measure pending a second negative test.”
After being cleared to leave the White House, the president departed for Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Sunday morning, telling reporters he was “feeling good.”
“After 18 days, I’m clear!” he said, per CNN.
Biden experienced a rebound COVID-19 diagnosis last Saturday, requiring him to remain in isolation.
On Tuesday, O’Connor revealed that Biden was experiencing his first symptoms of COVID, a loose cough, but he remained fever-free with promising vitals.
“His temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation remain entirely normal,” O’Connor wrote in a letter to the president’s staff. Additionally, “His lungs are clear.”
The president first tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21, after feeling under the weather the evening prior. Double vaccinated and twice boosted, his symptoms were mild, and within five days he had overcome the virus with help from a Paxlovid treatment.
With Paxlovid, however, so-called “rebound COVID” can occur, and O’Connor declared his intent to carefully watch the president in case it came back.
Despite being diagnosed with the virus, Biden had continued working remotely in the White House. He has since held two socially distanced meetings to announce the death of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and sign his second executive order to protect access to reproductive healthcare services.
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