Anthony Fauci, Biden's top COVID adviser, tests positive
In this file photo taken on February 25, 2021, White House Chief Medical Adviser on COVID-19 Dr. Anthony Fauci listens as US President Joe Biden (out of frame) speaks about the 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine shot administered in the US in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC.
Top scientist Anthony Fauci, the face of America's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, tested positive on Wednesday for the virus on a rapid antigen test but is continuing to work from home while he recovers, the National Institutes of Health said.
"He is currently experiencing mild symptoms," the NIH said, adding the 81-year-old, who is fully vaccinated and double boosted, had not been in recent close contact with President Joe Biden, whom he serves as chief medical adviser.
"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," it said.
Breakthrough infections have risen significantly since the Omicron variant became dominant late last year. Its latest sublineages BA.4 and BA.5, which appear to have advantages in their ability to evade immune protection, are now on the rise.
As the longtime director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Fauci has led the United States' response to every pandemic since 1984, winning wide praise for his leadership during the early fight against HIV-AIDS.
