Biden's 99.4 degree COVID temperature not 'fever,' White House insists - New York Post
WASHINGTON — President Biden had an elevated temperature Thursday after testing positive for COVID-19, his physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in a Friday statement — but White House officials insisted at a late-afternoon briefing that the president did not have a "fever" despite O'Connor indicating the reading was higher than normal.
O'Connor didn't take questions from reporters for a second day following Biden's Thursday diagnosis, as the press corps objected to the fact that only second-hand information was available on the 79-year-old president's health.
"His symptoms have improved. He did mount a temperature yesterday evening to 99.4°F, which responded favorably to acetaminophen (Tylenol). His temperature has remained normal since then," O'Connor wrote in a morning memo.
The Biden administration's coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha, fielded questions at the regular White House press briefing instead of O'Connor and denied that Tylenol was used to lower Biden's temperature — while insisting that he would not describe a 99.4-degree reading as "elevated," much less as a fever.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed Jha, saying that O'Connor gave Biden Tylenol "for discomfort, which is not unusual."
Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich followed up on the seeming inconsistency, saying,"[O'Connor's] letter described his 99.4 degree non-fever as being treated with Tylenol, but then I'm hearing from you that he was treated for discomfort. That's an inconsistency."
Jha deflected, saying, "I'll have to pull up the letter," while insisting that "99.4 is very much within the normal range."
"When you just don't feel great, taking Tylenol helps you feel better," Jha added, insisting that the temperature and medication were unrelated, despite O'Connor's implication.
According to the website of Johns Hopkins University's medical school, "normal body temperature ranges from 97.5°F to 98.9°F," which would indicate that Biden's temperature was above normal.
The Biden White House handling of O'Connor is a marked contrast from when then-President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19 in October 2020. On that occasion, Trump's phyisician, Dr. Sean Conley, personally addressed reporters on a daily basis.
"We haven't heard directly from him… a piece of paper is not directly. We hear directly from Dr. Jha, that's who we hear directly from," Newsmax reporter James Rosen told Jean-Pierre at one point Friday afternoon.
The press secretary insisted, "You've heard from the letter, that is hearing directly from him. We're not playing telephone here."
New York Times reporter Zolan Kanno-Youngs followed up, asking about O'Connor: "Does the White House plan on making him available for questions, making him available to the public at any point?"
"We feel that Dr. Connor's statements and his detailed report —again, on a situation, as the doctor just said, that is mild, very mild, and he's able to continue to do his work — is enough," the press secretary claimed.
Kanno-Youngs pressed the point, saying: "You don't think there would be additional value, even just for assuring the public and giving the press the opportunity to ask and follow up questions with him directly?"
"Dr. O'Connor believes there's nothing more than he could add to what's already in his report," Jean-Pierre claimed.
On Thursday, Jean-Pierre received a stinging rebuke from National Journal reporter George Condon, who is respected among White House journalists and staffers for his deep historical knowledge of White House-press relations from his decades on the beat.
"The question is when will Dr. O'Connor come out? Because to just put out a statement and shield him from questions would be the least transparency of any White House in 50 years on a presidential illness," Condon said in a remark that turned heads for its directness.
Biden, who turns 80 in November, is quadruple-vaccinated, which reduces his risk of serious illness, and is on a five-day regimen of antiviral drug Paxlovid. O'Connor suspended Biden's use of two heart medications Thursday after his diagnosis.
The president's aides have repeatedly stressed that Biden remains able to work. Around noon Friday, the White House tweeted a photo of the president wearing a suit and face mask while seated behind at a desk. In the photo, Biden held a phone receiver in one hand and a notecard in the other.
"President Biden continued working from the White House this morning, including speaking by phone with his national security team," the White House message read.
O'Connor, meanwhile, wrote in his Friday morning memo that Biden's symptoms remain mild, despite the fact that his advanced age and history of asthma increase his risk.
"His symptoms remain characterized as rhinorrhea ('runny nose') and fatigue, with an occasional non-productive, now 'loose' cough," the doctor wrote. "His voice is deeper this morning. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation remain entirely normal, on room air."
O'Connor wrote that Biden is using low-dose aspirin as a temporary blood thinner after suspending his use of anticoagulant Eliquis, which is used to prevent strokes in people who have atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat.
"The President is tolerating treatment well. We will continue Paxlovid as planned," O'Connor wrote. "His symptoms will be treated with oral hydration, acetaminophen (Tylenol), and the albuterol inhaler that he uses as needed. His apixaban (Eliquis) and rosuvastatin (Crestor) are being held during Paxlovid treatment and for several days after his last dose. During this time, it is reasonable to add low dose aspirin as an alternative type of blood thinner."
O'Connor indicated that he expects Biden to recover from the virus that has killed more than 1 million Americans since March 2020.
"As I stated previously, the President is fully vaccinated and twice-boosted, so I anticipate that he will respond favorably, as most maximally protected patients do," O'Connor wrote. "There has been nothing in the course of his illness thus far which gives me cause to alter that initial expectation. Early use of Paxlovid provides additional protection against severe disease."
White House reporters on Thursday clamored for O'Connor to appear in the briefing room Friday to discuss Biden's health after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House coronavirus pandemic coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha provided secondhand and outdated information about the president's condition. It's unclear if he will do so.
Biden fell ill Wednesday evening after returning from a gaffe-filled speech in Massachusetts focused on global warming, before testing positive on Thursday morning.
Then-President Donald Trump caught COVID-19 in October 2020 and was hospitalized for three nights at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.
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