Biden Tests Positive for 7th Straight Day After ‘Rebound’ COVID-19 Infection

U.S. News & World Report 8/5/2022 Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder

US President Joe Biden speaks before signing an executive order protecting access to reproductive health care services, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 8, 2022. - Biden branded the conservative-majority Supreme Court as "out of control" after its landmark ruling last month that overturned the nationwide right to abortion, in force since 1973. "We cannot allow an out of control Supreme Court working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican Party to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy," he said. (Photo by Samuel Corum / AFP) (Photo by SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

© (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images) US President Joe Biden speaks before signing an executive order protecting access to reproductive health care services, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 8, 2022. - Biden branded the conservative-majority Supreme Court as "out of control" after its landmark ruling last month that overturned the nationwide right to abortion, in force since 1973. "We cannot allow an out of control Supreme Court working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican Party to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy," he said. (Photo by Samuel Corum / AFP) (Photo by SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

President Joe Biden on Friday tested positive for COVID-19 for the seventh straight day after he experienced a “rebound” of the infection following his treatment with Paxlovid.

Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said that the president “continues to feel very well.”

“His cough has almost completely resolved,” O’Connor wrote in a letter provided by the White House. “His temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation remain entirely normal. His lungs remain clear.”

Biden first tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21. Following two negative tests, he ended his isolation last week before testing positive again on Saturday.

Video: Biden continues to test positive in 'rebound' Covid case, remains in isolation (NBC News)

Biden continues to test positive in 'rebound' Covid case, remains in isolation

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Rebound cases have been known to happen in people who take Paxlovid, an antiviral drug. Biden underwent a five-day course of the treatment.

According to Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, rebound cases typically don’t lead to serious illness. He estimated that between 5-8% of Paxlovid users will see COVID-19 rebound.

Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that those with rebound infections after taking Paxlovid should restart isolation and wear a mask for at least 10 days after rebound symptoms began.

“Some people continue to test positive after day 10 but are considerably less likely to shed infectious virus,” the CDC said in a health advisory issued in May.

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.

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