President Joe Biden on Saturday tested negative for COVID-19 after experiencing a “rebound” infection following his treatment with the antiviral Paxlovid.
Biden’s physician, Kevin O'Connor, said that the “President continues to feel very well."
"Given his rebound positivity which we reported last Saturday, we have continued daily monitoring. This morning, his SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing was negative,” O’Connor wrote in a letter provided by the White House, referring to the virus by its scientific name. “In an abundance of caution, the President will continue his strict isolation measures pending a second negative test as previously described."
Biden initially tested positive for the virus on July 21. Following two negative tests, he ended his isolation last week before testing positive again on Saturday. He then tested positive for seven days in a row.
The president underwent a five-day course of Paxlovid, which is estimated to lead to a rebound case in 5-8% of patients. A recent study found that COVID-19 rebound can also happen in people who did not take Paxlovid. The research, which hasn’t been peer reviewed, found that 27% of untreated study participants reported a rebound in COVID-19 symptoms within about a month of testing positive.
Biden has no weekend events on his schedule, but he and first lady Jill Biden are scheduled to travel to Kentucky on Monday following deadly floods in the area.