Opinion: PCR testing can help clarify confusion over Covid-19 rebound and isolation
President Biden’s recent case of Covid-19, its rebound, and his extended isolation offers an opportunity to consider how more precise interpretation of viral load via PCR testing might be used to safely return people to work or school earlier.
Biden tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, on July 21, after beginning to experience a runny nose, dry cough, and fatigue the night before. He took the antiviral Paxlovid for five days, as prescribed. He felt well, and serial testing indicated that his body had cleared the virus on July 26. He returned to work on July 27, consistent with guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet on July 30, the president tested positive again, and was “forced to resume strict isolation procedures” despite feeling fine, according to a memo from his physician, Kevin C. O’Connor.
