Biden improves ‘significantly,’ throat still sore from COVID

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, says Biden continues to “improve significantly” despite a lingering sore throat. Biden tested positive for the virus Thursday, and he’s been taking the antiviral drug Paxlovid. The White House COVID-19 coordinator says Biden is feeling “much, much better.” Dr. Ashisha Jha says, “Thank goodness our vaccines and therapeutics work well against it.” Officials have emphasized that Biden’s symptoms are mild because he received four vaccine doses and had started taking Paxlovid. O’Connor said Saturday the president likely became infected with a highly contagious variant, known as BA.5, that’s spreading throughout the country, and Jha said Sunday, “It is the BA.5 variant.”