BREAKING: Former President Barack Obama tests positive for COVID-19
‘I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days’ Barack Obama reveals on Twitter that he’s tested positive for COVID
- Obama announced Sunday he tested positive for coronavirus
- ‘I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise,’ the former president tweeted in describing his symptoms
- Said wife and former first lady Michelle is in the clear
- The former first couple are both vaccinated against COVID-19
Former President Barack Obama announced Sunday afternoon: ‘I just tested positive for COVID’, but said Michelle is still clear of coronavirus.
‘I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise,’ the former president tweeted in describing his symptoms.
‘Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative. It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down,’ Obama tweeted.
He did not mention whether either of his daughters Malia, 23, and Sasha, 20 were tested for the virus, but both are currently in college and likely away at school.
The diagnosis comes at a time when case rates and deaths in the U.S. are on the decline following the winter Omicron surge. It also comes as COVID restrictions are relaxing in the U.S.
Former President Barack Obama announced Sunday that he tested positive for COVID-19. Pictured: Obama speaks during a memorial service for the late Senator Harry Reid at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 8, 2022
He posted on Twitter Sunday afternoon describing his symptoms as mild, and added that his wife Michelle Obama tested negative
There were still 38,482 new COVID-19 cases reported on Friday, according to the most recently available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Obama has been vaccinated for the last year.
He announced on Twitter in March 2021: ‘Michelle and I got vaccinated against COVID-19 because we know it’s the best way to beat this pandemic, protect one another, and get the country back up and running again.’
‘So I hope you’ll get the vaccine as soon as it’s available to you. It could save your life,’ he added.
The announcement came at a time when many impatient Americans were anxious to get the vaccine after it rolled out, but also when the Biden administration was struggling to get vaccine-hesitant Americans to get the jab.
Obama’s tweet featured a video showing him and wife Michelle receiving the vaccine along with former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and their wives, former first ladies Rosalynn Carter, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush, respectively.
Infections massively spiked over the winter with the emergence of the highly-contagious Omicron variant, but case-rates are back down and have led to relaxed restrictions similar to those over the summer
In the video, which was developed by Ad Council and the COVID Collaborative and released on Wednesday, the former presidents urged Americans to receive their coronavirus vaccines to protect themselves against COVID-19 and hopefully put a stop to the ongoing pandemic.
‘This vaccine means hope. It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease,’ Barack Obama said in the one-minute ad.
‘We’ve lost enough people, and we’ve suffered enough damage,’ Bill Clinton said.
Obama has faced criticism for his elitist lifestyle during COVID, including balking CDC guidelines in August of last year and hosting a large, glamorous and maskless 60th birthday bash at his home on Martha’s Vineyard at a time when cases in Massachusetts were on the rise.
Massachusetts officials urged at the time that vaccinated residents and visitors put back on their face coverings in indoor public spaces amid a surge in new Covid cases after the mask guidelines were dropped earlier in the summer.
Guests at the event flew in from around the world to attend Obama’s birthday weekend.
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