Former President Barack Obama has tested positive for COVID-19, but he says he is feeling fine. Obama shared the news on Twitter on Sunday afternoon, explaining that his only symptom is “a scratchy throat.” He took the opportunity to make a new public service announcement about vaccination.
Obama tweeted that he had “just tested positive for COVID” just after 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. He wrote that he is “feeling fine” other than some minor throat irritation. He continued: “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.”
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As far as we know, this is Obama’s first case of COVID-19 since the virus cropped up in early 2020. In the U.S., the rates of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths are currently on the decline, although some experts take issue with the way this data is being reported in recent weeks. A new op-ed by Bruce Y. Lee in Forbes examines that issue.
Lee shared data compiled by doctors at the Scripps Research Translational Institute showing that a new surge in COVID-19 cases seems to have begun throughout Europe in the last few weeks. It shows the number of new cases trending upward fast in countries including Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Finland, Portugal, France, the United Kindgom, Ireland, Italy and Belgium.
Lee also pointed out that this kind of data naturally lags behind the real-time trends by about two weeks due to the virus’ gestation period, and perhaps more in countries where the mechanisms for tracking and reporting cases are under-funded. Lee compared all of this to the most recent surge in November of 2021, when holiday travel, relaxed safety measures and the omicron variant conspired to send COVID-19 numbers skyrocketing in the U.S.
“How can you not expect a variant to emerge when new variants have been emerging throughout much of the pandemic?” Lee wondered. At the time of this writing, many states and municipalities are relaxing their precautions like mask mandates and occupancy limits once again in spite of the fact that the virus has not been eliminated. Lee is one of many who is of the opinion that this will inevitably lead to another surge.
Public figures like Obama are emphasizing the mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus not as preventative measures at this point, but as a way of avoiding extreme cases which may require hospitalization or may cause death. The U.S. healthcare system is still under strain from the inundation of COVID-19 patients – sometimes including vaccinated people – and that can impact people who are vaccinated but need medical care for unrelated problems.
There are other issues to consider when it comes to public health policy as well, including the emerging research on “long COVID” and the long-term effects that even a mild case of the virus may have on respiratory function, cognitive ability and life expectancy. So far, there have been no updates on Obama’s condition since his diagnosis was announced.
