By Luis De Jesus
19 Jul 2024, 18:06 PM EDT
US President Joe Biden has shown “significant” improvement since Thursday, although he still has symptoms of Covid-19, especially cough and hoarseness, his doctor Kevin O’Connor said in a letter released by the White House on Friday.
“His dry cough and hoarseness continue to be his main symptoms, but they have improved significantly since yesterday,” the doctor said in his letter, as cited by the Efe news agency.
The president is in isolation at his Delaware residence after testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday while campaigning in Nevada, a key state in the November elections.
At the same time, a growing number of Democrats in Congress are calling for him to end his candidacy for the November elections.
In his letter, the doctor explained that Joe Biden took a fourth dose of the antiviral drug Paxlovid, used to combat symptoms, this morning. The president began the treatment on Wednesday.
According to the medical report, the president’s pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain “absolutely normal.”
In addition, his lungs remain clear and blood tests have come back normal, ruling out any anemia or evidence of bacterial infection.
Kevin O’Connor said the president underwent a PCR test on Thursday to confirm the presence of Covid. The variant of the virus affecting the president has not yet been identified.
At 81, Joe 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 when he became infected and then when he suffered a relapse.
His infection comes at a time of pressure to withdraw his candidacy. Some 30 members of Congress have publicly called for him to withdraw from the presidential race, increasing the pressure on the Democrat.
Biden has seen his support among key figures in the party falter. He reported Thursday The Washington Post, Former President Barack Obama has told those close to him that Biden should “seriously reconsider” the future of his candidacy.
The call for him to step down came after the June 27 debate against Donald Trump, in which Biden projected an aged image and struggled to finish some sentences.
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