US President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 again, returns to isolation
Washington, Jul 31: US President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again Saturday, slightly more than three days after he was cleared to exit coronavirus isolation, the White House said, in a rare case of rebound following treatment with an anti-viral drug.
White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in a letter that Biden has experienced no reemergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well. O'Connor said there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time.
In accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Biden will reenter isolation for at least five days. He will isolate at the White House until he tests negative. The agency says most rebound cases remain mild and that severe disease during that period has not been reported.
Just as when Biden first tested positive, the White House sought to show he was still working. The president sent out a picture of himself masked and tieless on Twitter, which showed him signing a declaration that added individual assistance for flood survivors in Kentucky.
The president followed up by tweeting out a 12-second video of him on a White House balcony with his dog, Commander.
I'm feeling fine, everything is good, said Biden, a pair of aviator sunglasses in his hand. But Commander and I got a little work to do.
The president also took time on Saturday to have a FaceTime conversation with people camping outside the US Capitol who are seeking health benefits for military veterans exposed to toxic substances from burn pits during their service, according to White House chief of staff Ron Klain. A bill to provide expanded benefits failed to clear the Senate on Wednesday. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough brought the group pizza and the phone connection to talk with the president.
Feel better, a member of the group told Biden in a video of the call posted to Twitter. Later, in a tweet, the president said he had planned to meet with families at the Capitol but that his positive test got in the way.
Word of Biden's positive test came he had been negative Friday morning just two hours after the White House announced a presidential visit to Michigan this coming Tuesday to highlight the passage of a bill to promote domestic high-tech manufacturing. Biden had also been scheduled to visit his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday morning, where first lady Jill Biden has been staying while the president was positive. Both trips have been canceled as Biden has returned to isolation.
Biden, 79, was treated with the anti-viral drug Paxlovid after he first tested positive on July 21. He tested negative for the virus on this past Tuesday and Wednesday. He was then cleared to leave isolation while wearing a mask indoors. His positive tests puts him among the minority of those prescribed the drug to experience a rebound case of the virus.
White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told reporters on Monday that data "suggests that between 5 and 8 percent of people have rebound after Paxlovid treatment.
Acknowledging the potential for so-called rebound' COVID positivity observed in a small percentage of patients treated with Paxlovid, the President increased his tested cadence, to protect people around him and to assure early detection of any return of viral replication, O'Connor wrote in his letter.
O'Connor cited negative tests for Biden from Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning, before Saturday morning's positive result by antigen testing. This in fact represents rebound' positivity," he wrote.
According to the CDC, those with rebound COVID should isolate for at least five days, ending that if a fever has resolved itself for 24 hours without medication and symptoms have improved. The patient should wear a mask for a total of 10 days after rebound symptoms started. Some people continue to test positive after day 10 but are considerably less likely to shed infectious virus.
Both the Food and Drug Administration and Pfizer point out that 1% to 2% of people in Pfizer's original study on Paxlovid saw their virus levels rebound after 10 days. The rate was about the same among people taking the drug or dummy pills, so it is unclear at this point that this is related to drug treatment, according to the FDA.
While Biden was testing negative, he returned to holding in-person indoor events and meetings with staff at the White House and was wearing a mask, in accordance with CDC guidelines. But the president removed his mask indoors when delivering remarks on Thursday and during a meeting with CEOs on the White House complex.
Asked why Biden appeared to be breaching CDC protocols, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, They were socially distanced. They were far enough apart. So we made it safe for them to be together, to be on that stage.
Regulators are still studying the prevalence and virulence of rebound cases, but the CDC in May warned doctors that it has been reported to occur within two days to eight days after initially testing negative for the virus.
Limited information currently available from case reports suggests that persons treated with Paxlovid who experience COVID-19 rebound have had mild illness; there are no reports of severe disease, the agency said at the time.
When Biden was initially released from isolation on Wednesday, O'Connor said the president would increase his testing cadence to catch any potential rebound of the virus.
Paxlovid has been proven to significantly reduce severe disease and death among those most vulnerable to COVID-19. U.S. health officials have encouraged those who test positive to consult their doctors or pharmacists to see if they should be prescribed the treatment, despite the rebound risk.
Biden is fully vaccinated, after getting two doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine shortly before taking office, a first booster shot in September and an additional dose March 30.
While patients who have recovered from earlier variants of COVID-19 have tended to have high levels of immunity to future reinfection for 90 days, Jha said that the BA.5 subvariant that infected Biden has proven to be more immune-evasive.
We have seen lots of people get reinfected within 90 days, he said, adding that officials don't yet have data on how long those who have recovered from the BA.5 strain have protection from reinfection.
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Chandrayaan-5 to have heavier lander with longer mission life: ISRO Chief
Bengaluru (PTI): India is planning to collect samples from the Moon and bring them back to Earth under Chandrayaan-4, while Chandrayaan-5 will involve a heavier lander with a longer mission life, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said on Wednesday.
He also spoke about ISRO's future missions including the one to study Venus and the other on Mars landing mission.
"Now we are working on the continuation of the Chandrayaan programme. In Chandrayaan-4, we plan to collect samples and bring them back. Chandrayaan-5 will involve a heavier lander with a longer mission life," he said at the inaugural ceremony of ISRO's fourth edition of the Space Science and Technology Awareness Training (START 2026) programme here.
He recalled that in Chandrayaan-3, the lander's mission life was only 14 days.
"In the future mission, we are talking about a life of around 100 days. The rover will also be heavier. Chandrayaan-3 had a rover of about 25 kg, while the future mission will have a rover of about 350 kg," Narayanan said.
Referring to ISRO's future programmes like the Venus Orbiter Mission, he said, "We have already accomplished the Mars Orbiter Mission, and now we are working on a Mars landing mission."
"These are some of the projects being discussed for government approval. So there is a lot of interest in the science area."
He noted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the vision of the space programme has been expanded and said, "We are currently working on the Gaganyaan programme and are planning to send our own astronauts into space and bring them back safely, possibly within the next two years."
"We are also planning to build our own space station by 2035. Additionally, we are working on landing Indians on the Moon and bringing them back safely by 2040. Brainstorming activities have already begun. So there are many activities happening in the space sector. Apart from application-related activities that ensure food security, water security, communication, and safety for citizens, there are many initiatives planned in the science area as well," he added.
Narayanan noted that India's space programme has accomplished 10 scientific missions so far, including AstroSat, which recently completed a decade in orbit and was still functioning very well.
He also highlighted India's various lunar exploration missions -- Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3 -- saying they led to many scientific discoveries.
"We are progressing in a big way," he added.
Highlighting the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission in the year 2023, the ISRO chairman said that India became the first country to successfully achieve a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon.
"Not only did we achieve the landing, but many discoveries were made. Around eight minerals were identified, seismic activity was studied, and the thermal profile of the Moon's surface was understood. Electron clouds were also studied. So many discoveries have come from that mission," he added.
Referring to the launch of Aditya-L1, the ISRO chairman said, "India is the fourth country to successfully place a satellite to study the Sun, and a large amount of data has already come out, and we have released the data as well."
Emphasising India's Space Vision 2047, he recalled that the country, which started with very humble beginnings, has developed significant capabilities.
"Today, we have the capability to conceive, design, and build our own launch vehicles, as well as conceive, build, and place satellites in orbit. Fifty years ago, we did not have this capability. Today, we can build satellites and the payloads required for them," Narayanan said.
Citing an example, he said that earlier optical cameras used lenses that were only about one inch in diameter.
"But today, in ISRO, cameras with optics of about 1.7 metres in diameter and almost one foot in thickness are being developed. These optics are being built at the LEOS (Laboratory For Electro Optics Systems) laboratory in Bengaluru for space observation. Many such activities are happening in the space sector," he noted.
He pointed out that the US, after 1969 and almost after 50-55 years, has again shown interest in landing on the Moon.
"The Artemis programme is already a very vibrant programme, with many activities going on. An accord was signed in 2023, and India is also a signatory to that accord," he said.
Speaking about China and Russia leading efforts to build the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the ISRO chairman noted, "When we talk about such space stations, one aspect is technology development. The second aspect is the large number of scientific experiments that will take place there. There is also a lot of competition today."
"There was a time when only government organisations across the world carried out space activities. Today, companies like SpaceX have advanced significantly. In fact, they have overtaken many others in terms of launches," he added.
He said that the main idea behind programmes like START 2026 is to encourage the next generation of youngsters to develop interest in this field and to build scientific temper so that they can become great leaders in building the nation.
