President Joe Biden Tests Positive for COVID for the Second Time in a Month

President Joe Biden has tested positive for so-called rebound COVID, a reported outcome of treating the virus with the drug Paxlovid

Joe Biden. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty

President Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time this month.

Announced by the president's physician Kevin O'Connor in a statement on Saturday, Biden, 79, has contracted "so-called 'rebound' COVID positivity," an occurrence that has been reported in a number of patients that are treated for the virus with the drug Paxlovid.

Knowing the risk of potentially getting COVID once more, the statement said that Biden had increased his testing frequency, "both to protect people around him and to assure early detection of any return of vital replication."

The statement also noted that the president tested negative this week on Tuesday evening, as well as on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. He later tested positive for the virus on Saturday morning.

"The President has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well," the statement by O'Connor wrote. "This being the case, there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time."

The statement also said that Biden will "reinitiate strict isolation procedures." The doctor added, "As I've stated previously, the President continues to be very specifically conscientious to protect any of the Executive Resident, White House, Secret Service and and other staff whose duties require any (albeit socially distance) proximity to him."

Biden tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday morning after feeling under the weather the night before. As the oldest president in U.S. history, his diagnosis came with some concern. Fortunately Biden was double-vaccinated and twice boosted, and his symptoms were reported as mild from the beginning.

O'Connor quickly began treating Biden with Paxlovid, and after five full days of isolating, he was cleared to re-enter the world — with a mask.

Joe Biden, wearing a protective face mask, addressed reporters on Tuesday in his hometown Wilmington, Delaware. Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock

O'Connor previously delivered a letter to Biden's team informing them of the president's improvement on Wednesday morning. "Yesterday evening, and then again, this morning, he tested negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus by antigen testing," he wrote at the time.

The doctor said that Biden remained "fever-free" and didn't need to take Tylenol for more than 36 hours, adding: "His symptoms have been steadily improving, and are almost completely resolved."

Throughout Biden's illness, O'Connor provided daily progress reports on the president's health, noting throughout that his lungs remained clear and vitals normal, aside from a slightly elevated temperature early on. As of Tuesday, Biden's symptoms had dissolved enough for him to resume his exercise routine.

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For 10 days, Biden was planning to continue wearing a "well-fitting" mask any time he is around other people. Now that he has contracted rebound COVID, he has restarted isolation procedures.