Joe Biden coughed intermittently during a virtual White House meeting one day after testing positive for COVID.
Mr. Biden, who at 79 is the oldest person to ever serve as President of the United States, appeared in a good mood but had a noticeably deeper voice and apologized for repeatedly interrupting his speech to cough.
“I feel a lot better than I look,” the president said, describing recent efforts to lower gasoline prices in the United States.
It came later Chinese President Xi Jinping wished his American counterpart a speedy recovery in an official message.
On Friday, the White House doctor released a statement stating that Mr. Biden’s symptoms had improved.
The letter, released by physician Kevin O’Connor, said Mr. Biden he had a mild temperature of 37.4 ° C (99.4 ° F) but responded “favorably” to painkillers and was breathing normally.
“His voice is deeper this morning. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation remain normal in the room air,” he said.
The doctor, who according to the White House is seeing Mr. Biden and checking his “vital signs, several times a day,” added that the two medications he takes for atrial fibrillation (an irregular heart rate) and cholesterol are were temporarily detained to avoid interference with his course of treatment of an antiviral drug to help fight COVID.
He said low-dose aspirin was also added as an alternative anticoagulant.
“The president is tolerating the treatment well,” he said.
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Dr. Ashish Jha
Dr. Ashish Jha, White House coordinator for COVID-19, said Mr. Biden was fine and his mild symptoms were basically the same: runny nose, fatigue, and the occasional dry cough.
He added, “The president is better. He slept well last night. He ate breakfast and lunch, completely. He actually showed me his plate.”
The president, who is fully vaccinated and twice augmented, He tested positive for coronavirus on Thursdaywhen the White House said it would continue to work but in solitary confinement.
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His diagnosis comes when a highly contagious sub-variant leads a new wave of cases in the United States, and as new data released on Friday show. infections in the UK have increased again to nearly 3.8 million.
COVID cases in the United States have increased more than 25% in the past month, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as the new Omicron BA.5 sub-variant takes hold there and around the world.
