One day after President Joe Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19, his physician said on Friday that he has improved after a full day of antiviral treatment and his symptoms remain mild.
The update was given in a letter from Physician to the President Kevin O’Connor. In it, he said Biden’s temperature was running a bit high on Thursday night, but it’s back to normal.
“The president is tolerating treatment well,” O’Connor wrote in the letter.
After Biden tested positive, O’Connor said that he expected the president to respond well to treatment — particularly because he’s fully vaccinated and double-boosted.
“There has been nothing in the course of his illness thus far that gives me cause to alter that initial expectation,” he wrote in the letter Friday.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT to give an update on the president’s condition.
“Because the president is fully vaccinated, double boosted, his risk of serious illness is dramatically lower,” Jha told reporters on Thursday. “He’s also getting treated with a very powerful antiviral, and that further reduces his risk of serious illness.”
The White House said Biden will be working on various efforts Friday, mostly in isolation and according to health guidelines.
On Biden’s schedule Friday is a daily briefing, which he will attend virtually, and a video conference with his economic team to discuss lowering gas prices. He’s also is scheduled to meet virtually with senior advisers to talk about legislative priorities in Congress.
Biden’s diagnosis means he will not be traveling for at least several days. He was supposed to go to Pennsylvania on Thursday to detail a proposed anti-crime bill, but the visit was canceled after the positive test result. Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative for COVID-19.
On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent well wishes to Biden and extended his “sincere sympathy” and wished him a “speedy recovery,” according to state-run Xinhua.
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BOO hiss..
Drugs?? Why, I thought he had the super-duper government-mandated vaccine.