By EFE
18 Jul 2024, 14:25 PM EDT
Washington – US President Joe Biden continues to have “mild symptoms” and no fever after testing positive for Covid-19, the president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, said in a letter distributed by the White House on Thursday.
“The President continues to experience mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with his recent bout of COVID-19,” the doctor said in a brief letter of just 70 words, adding that “he has no fever and his vital signs remain normal.”
Biden tested positive on Wednesday while campaigning in Nevada, a key state for the November elections. Instead of speaking as planned at a conference of the Latino organization UnidosUS, he had to return to his residence in Delaware.
The president remained isolated at home on Thursday to avoid contagion, where he continued to “conduct the affairs of the American people,” according to O’Connor.
The doctor explained that Biden continues to take the antiviral drug Paxlovid, used to combat the symptoms of Covid-19. The president began the treatment yesterday as soon as he was diagnosed.
At 81, Biden is the oldest president in US history and, if he wins the November election, he would leave office at 86. He had already contracted the virus twice in the summer of 2022, first becoming infected and then suffering a flare-up.
His infection comes at a time of renewed pressure for him to step down, with several media outlets pointing to a lack of support among leading figures in the Democratic Party, whose concerns increased after his poor performance in the late June debate against his Republican rival, Donald Trump.
Axios reported today that several senior Democrats believe this mounting pressure could convince Biden to drop out of the presidential race, possibly as early as this weekend.
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