Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the President and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has tested positive for COVID-19 via a rapid antigen test, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The 81-year-old official had not been in close contact with US President Joe Biden and other senior government officials, as per ABC News.
Fauci has mild symptoms of COVID-19 and is currently taking Paxlovid, an antiviral medication manufactured by Pfizer.
The country's top health officer will still testify before the Senate Health Committee on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. on the government's pandemic response. Fauci will now do his testimony online.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said that Fauci "is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice." He will also undergo necessary pandemic protocols and treatment.
"Dr. Fauci will follow the COVID-19 guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical advice from his physician and return to the NIH when he tests negative," the Institute said.
US Doctor Leading the Fight Against COVID-19 Gets Infected With the Virus
Fauci visited the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 11, where the science center was renamed the Anthony S. Fauci Integrated Science Complex. Fauci was photographed with and without a mask.
Last month, Fauci said that he has never tested positive for COVID-19.
Fauci was noticeably absent at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April.
Also, during that month, he told CNN: "Each of us, in our own personal way, has to make an assessment of what risk you're willing to accept about getting infected. In general, the risk is low, but I made a personal assessment. I'm 81 years old, and if I get infected, I have a much higher risk."
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In December 2020, Fauci got one of the first doses of Moderna's Covid vaccination on video.
NBC reported that in the early part of 2022, Fauci told J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, that the omicron strain would "ultimately find just about everybody."
Dr. Fauci has aided in the leadership of the United States' response to numerous health crises, notably the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. He was a COVID-19 pandemic adviser to then-President Donald Trump before becoming Biden's chief medical adviser.
Vaccines Are Still the Most Important Protection Against COVID-19, Experts Say
Boosters and Paxlovid, according to the White House, indicate that the country is in a new phase of the virus, with cases defanged to some extent.
By the end of February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 58 % of the US population had been infected with COVID-19. According to NBC News' tally, the country is recording 109,000 new Covid cases per day on average, up roughly 13% from two weeks ago. Every day, 370 individuals die as a result of the infection.
New omicron subvariants have exhibited increased contagiousness and the ability to elude vaccines to some extent, implying that immunization against the disease is far from perfect, as per a report from The Hill. Vaccines and booster doses continue to offer important protection against serious diseases, which many experts consider to be the most important.
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