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Is Barack Obama OK? Former POTUS tests positive for Covid-19

Wife Michelle Obama tested negative and Obama revealed he has been dealing with a scratchy throat but no other major symptoms

Former president Barack Obama took to Twitter on March 14 to announce that he has tested positive for Covid-19. He added that he is only dealing with mild symptoms of the virus. He has been dealing with a scratchy throat but no other major symptoms. 

"I just tested positive for COVID. I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise. Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative," Obama tweeted. "It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down."

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Obama, 60, recently returned to Washington, DC, after spending some time of the winter in Hawaii. He reportedly tested positive in DC. Obama became the second US president known to contract coronavirus after former president Donald Trump said he tested positive back in October 2020. This was before vaccines were widely available across the US.

Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that only 2% of the US population, which is about 7 million people, live in a county with a "high" Covid-19 community levels, with the rest at "low" or "medium" community levels. At the areas with "low" or "medium" community levels, there is no recommendation for wearing masks. 

"With current high levels of vaccination and high levels of population immunity from both vaccination and infections, the risk of medically significant disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 is greatly reduced for most people. At the same time, we know that some people and communities, such as our oldest citizens, people who are immunocompromised, and people with disabilities, are at higher risk for serious illness and face challenging decisions navigating a world with COVID-19, "the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, as per its website. 

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden said in his first State of the Union address that the US is moving "forward safely" into a phase of the ongoing pandemic that is less disruptive. "Thanks to the progress we have made this past year, Covid-19 need no longer control our lives," Biden said, acknowledging that Americans are "tired, frustrated and exhausted" with the pandemic.