President Joe Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19 recently, which couldn’t have come at a worse time for him and his already fledgling re-election campaign.
And while he is apparently doing just fine, recovering in isolation, there are some doctors who are more worried about how it will affect him long-term.
On Wednesday night, the president could be seen gingerly walking down the steps of Air Force One, hobbling and then being helped into his car. That caused many people to be extra concerned about his health, at a time when many people are calling for him to step aside from the presidential race due to health and mental acuity concerns.
The Daily Mail talked to multiple doctors recently, all of whom said that the 81-year-old Biden is in an age group that has the highest risk of suffering lingering and debilitating symptoms from COVID-19.
This includes fatigue, muscle aches and brain fog that make it much more difficult than normal to move well and think straight.
The doctors said they believe that Biden should make a full recovery from COVID-19. In addition to the fact that he has some natural immunity from prior COVID-19 infections, is up-to-date on his vaccinations and exercises regularly, he’s also taking the drug Paxlovid, which is designed to treat the virus.
At the same time, these doctors are worried about how old Biden is, as well as the numerous other underlying health conditions that he has — including a history of aneurysm and an irregular heartbeat.
This combination of factors might mean it takes Biden many weeks, and possibly even months, to fully recover. Still, they don’t believe that this bout of COVID-19 will be fatal to Biden, considering the factors they listed.
While older people are still the most susceptible to succumbing to the effects of COVID-19, the overall risk of dying as a result of contracting the virus has plummeted in recent years.
For the week that ended on June 29, for example, only 259 people died of COVID-19. In summer 2021, by contrast, there were between 3,000 and 15,000 people dying from COVID-19 every week.
It’s possible that the president’s doctors are telling him to “take it easy,” according to UCLA cardiologist Dr. Ernst Von Schwarz. This might mean that he would have to drop out of the presidential race altogether if he doesn’t recover quickly.
According to Von Schwarz, who spoke to the Daily Mail recently, COVID-19 can still be nasty for the elderly. As he said:
“It can knock you down, and it’s not only affecting the lungs. It’s a systemic inflammatory response, as a result of the virus infection, meaning it can affect the heart, it can affect the brain, it can affect the blood vessels.”
He then added:
“I would tell any patient, of course, especially those with a considered high risk, take it easy. You need a lot of rest, a lot of hydration. And in President Biden’s case, he is on certain medications, which he has to address or even stopped because he’s obviously getting Paxlovid right now.”
