Key takeaways:
- This week, the president’s voice has been unusually low and scratchy, with the occasional cough prompting press concerns about his health on Friday.
- Biden tested for 19 “common respiratory pathogens,” including the flu, COVID-19, and streptococcus, and all of the tests were negative.
This winter, US President Joe Biden has something in common with tens of thousands of parents and grandparents: he’s caught a cold from his newborn grandson.
He informed reporters that he has been tested for COVID-19 regularly and is negative and that he has been suffering from a scratchy throat for a much less serious reason.
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“I have a one-and-a-half-year-old grandchild who has a cold and likes to kiss his grandfather,” he explained. “It’s only a cold,” she says.
Biden spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket with his family, and his youngest grandson Beau, who is named after Biden’s deceased son, was in the White House on Monday to help his grandma welcome the White House Christmas tree.
Jill Biden kissed her grandchild as she took a twig from the tree and gave it to him.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s primary care physician since 2009, confirmed that Biden is “experiencing some greater nasal congestion this week” in a message posted Friday.
“This is audible in his speech, and he is experiencing the well-known ‘frog in the throat,'” O’Connor wrote.
Biden tested for 19 “common respiratory pathogens,” including the flu, COVID-19, and streptococcus, and all of the tests were negative. The president is using over-the-counter medications to help him deal with his issues.
Last month, Biden underwent a routine physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where his doctor declared him to be a “healthy, vibrant, 78-year-old male, who is fit to successfully fulfill the duties of the Presidency.”
O’Connor investigated Biden for increased instances of “throat-clearing” and stiffness of his walk during public statements. Biden’s coughing was due to gastric reflux, and his rigid walk was due to a new diagnosis of “mild peripheral neuropathy,” spinal arthritis, and compensation for a fractured foot suffered a year ago, according to O’Connor.
Source: CTV News
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