WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden's condition has improved "significantly" since the 79-year-old tested positive for COVID, and his main symptom Sunday was a sore throat, the White House said. "The president is responding to therapy as expected," and his treatment with the antiviral Paxlovid will continue as planned, with supportive treatment of acetaminophen and oral hydration, Biden's physician Kevin O'Connor said in a memorandum to the White House press secretary. "His symptoms continue to improve significantly," with body aches and coughing diminishing considerably, his blood pressure, temperature and respiratory rate normal and his lungs clear, O'Connor wrote.

Biden has isolated at the White House since testing positive for the coronavirus on Thursday. While he is reported to be in good general health, as the oldest US president ever elected his age heightens concern over the impact of COVID. In a previous statement, the doctor said that primary sequencing results showed Biden most likely had contracted the highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 subvariant, which is currently fueling a new COVID wave in the United States. The White House has emphasized since Biden's diagnosis that the president was fully vaccinated and twice boosted.

Biden us covid