US President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week – the third bout of viral infection for the 81-year-old. According to the White House statement, Biden is taking the antiviral medication Paxlovid and has self-isolated in Delaware.

Even though doctors have called Biden’s symptoms as mild, the President has upper respiratory symptoms - including a runny nose and dry cough, as well as general malaise. “His symptoms are mild, and his respiratory rate, body temperature, and blood oxygen level are normal,” according to the statement. Biden’s diagnosis comes as the country, due to the presidential election later this year, is experiencing a summer uptick in COVID-19 cases.

Doctors are warning that at his age, Biden is at the highest risk of debilitating and lingering symptoms from the virus which can include brain fog, fatigue, and long-term muscle aches that make moving difficult. According to doctors, Biden’s advanced age which includes a myriad of underlying health conditions like an irregular heartbeat, a history of aneurysm – and current medications that include blood thinners could mean it can take him weeks to recover.

Experts say it is possible that his previous COVID-19 infection would have caused his body to create antibodies that can fight the virus. His previous bouts of the virus came two years ago, in July 2022. According to researchers in Oregon, most adults have antibodies more than 12 months after getting COVID-19 and previous infection offers strong, lasting protection against reinfection.

Biden’s team has also said he is vaccinated and boosted.

Throughout the pandemic, older adults have faced an outsized risk of becoming severely sick and dying compared to younger adults. According to the CDC, for every American older than 75 years, around four died with COVID-19 and 66 were hospitalized. For all other age groups, the COVID death rate last month was less than one per 1,00,000.

Doctors say older adults are more likely to face serious complications of coronavirus as most have other medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke. In the elderly, even a mild COVID-19 infection can have long-term effects, most of which can lead to serious illnesses.

Statistics say 8 per cent of Americans experienced long COVID when Omicron was the dominant variant. During that time, individuals who were vaccinated against COVID were about half as likely to develop long COVID than unvaccinated people.