President Joe Biden likely has BA.5 variant but Covid-19 symptoms ‘continue to improve,’ doctor says

President Joe Biden likely has BA.5 variant but Covid-19 symptoms ‘continue to improve,’ doctor says


President Joe Biden, who tested positive today for Covid-19 this morning, posts on Twitter “Folks, I’m doing great. Thanks for your concern. Just called Senator Casey, Congressman Cartwright, and Mayor Cognetti (and my Scranton cousins!) to send my regrets for missing our event today.”

Courtesy: White House

President Joe Biden likely has the BA.5 Covid-19 variant but his symptoms “continue to improve,” according to the White House.

“His primary symptoms, though less troublesome, now include sore throat, rhinorrhea, loose cough and body aches,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a memorandum on Saturday.

The president on Friday completed his second full day of Pfizer’s Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that can reduce the risk of hospitalization for Covid-19 patients, O’Connor said.

While the president is responding to the therapy “as expected,” he has likely contracted the Covid-19 BA.5 variant, which is currently responsible for 70% to 85% of U.S. infections.

Biden, who is fully vaccinated and received two booster shots, tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday and has reported “very mild symptoms.”



Source

Healthy Returns: Novo Nordisk CEO on GLP-1 pricing, and more insights from the JPM conference
Health

Healthy Returns: Novo Nordisk CEO on GLP-1 pricing, and more insights from the JPM conference

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions. Good morning from San Francisco! It’s day three of the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference – the biggest gathering of biotech and pharma execs, investors and analysts in […]

Read More
OpenAI acquires health-care technology startup Torch
Health

OpenAI acquires health-care technology startup Torch

OpenAI has acquired the health-care technology startup Torch, the company announced on Monday. Torch was building a “unified medical memory” for artificial intelligence that aimed to bring a patient’s health data, which is typically siloed and stored across a number of different vendors and formats, into one place. Torch’s employees will join OpenAI as part […]

Read More
Thanks for your support, here’s how to connect with us
Health

Thanks for your support, here’s how to connect with us

When Becky Quick announced the CNBC Cures initiative, our effort to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve the lives of the 30 million people living with them, we knew the response would be big. We didn’t know it would be this big. The response has been amazing, overwhelming and humbling. Thank you for your interest — […]

Read More