Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
President Biden Has Covid: Isolating With 'Mild Symptoms,' Taking Paxlovid
President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing 鈥渕ild symptoms鈥 including 鈥済eneral malaise鈥 from the infection, the White House said. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will 鈥渟elf-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.鈥 The news had first been shared by UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murgu铆a, who told guests at the group鈥檚 convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus. (Madhani, 7/18)
鈥淚鈥檓 sick,鈥 the president said in a post on the social platform X Wednesday after the White House said Wednesday evening that the president had tested positive for COVID-19. 鈥淥f Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election,鈥 Biden said in a reply to his post after a two-minute delay, alongside a link to a fundraising webpage. 鈥淎nd if you agree, pitch in here.鈥 (Suter, 7/17)
President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday, placing a renewed spotlight on covid-19 and the precautions the broader public can take as a summer wave of the disease sweeps over much of the United States. ... When sick with symptoms of a respiratory virus, such as the coronavirus, the CDC advises individuals to stay home and isolate until both their overall symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free without using fever-reducing medication for 24 hours. (Ables and Nirappil, 7/18)
Also 鈥
Vaccination lowers the chance of developing long Covid, according to a large new study that also found that the risk of serious complications has diminished but not disappeared as new coronavirus variants emerged. (Cooney, 7/17)
A summer Covid wave is hitting the country, but there鈥檚 one consolation: Your chances of developing long Covid have fallen since the start of the pandemic.聽That鈥檚 the finding from a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. It concluded that about 10% of people infected with the virus鈥檚 original strain developed long Covid. By contrast, the risk of developing long Covid dropped to 3.5% with the virus鈥檚 Omicron variant among vaccinated people. For the unvaccinated, the risk was 7.7.%. (Reddy, 7/17)
A summer wave of Covid is surging in many parts of the nation. Infections, emergency room visits and hospitalizations are all on the upswing. Recognizing that Covid is now a permanent respiratory threat, as are influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, federal officials have recommended that everyone 6 months and older receive the newest vaccine this fall. (Mandavilli, 7/17)