President Biden Tests Negative For COVID-19 After 5 Days Of Isolation

WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden has tested negative for COVID-19 six days after first testing positive, White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor confirmed in a letter Wednesday.

Biden, who tested positive on Thursday, experienced "very mild symptoms," including a runny nose, cough, and fatigue. The 79-year-old president recently completed a five-day course of Paxlovid, an antiviral drug designed to reduce the severity of the disease, O'Connor said in his letter.

After five full days, O'Connor said the president will "discontinue strict isolation measures."

"(The president) remains fever-free and he discontinued the use of any acetaminophen for the past 36 hours. His symptoms have been steadily improving and are almost completely resolved," O'Connor wrote.

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Biden continued to work in isolation. He held meetings virtually and addressed groups through tape-recorded messages.

For the next 10 days, Biden plans to wear a well-fitting mask any time he is around others, the letter said. He will be tested more frequently to detect any resurgence of the virus.

Biden is far from the first world leader — and not the first U.S. president — to get coronavirus, which has infected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and more than a dozen other leaders and high-ranking officials globally.

Biden’s predecessor, President Donald Trump, contracted the disease in October 2020. At the time, vaccines were not available and treatment options were limited and less advanced.

After being diagnosed with COVID-19 at the White House, Trump was given an experimental antibody treatment and steroids after his blood oxygen levels fell dangerously low. He was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three days