Barack Obama says he tested positive for COVID-19
Former President Barack Obama said Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is "feeling fine" other than a scratchy throat.
Both the 60-year-old Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are fully vaccinated and boosted, the former president said. Michelle Obama has tested negative.
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.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 13, 2022
It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.
Obama said his diagnosis is "a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven't already, even as cases go down."
Cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. continue to decline following a massive winter surge driven by the Omicron variant. As of Saturday, the U.S. was seeing a 7-day average of 37,121 positive tests, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. At the height of the surge in January, the U.S. was averaging between 600,000 and 800,000 cases per week.
But as case numbers fall, states and municipalities throughout the country have dropped many of the pandemic restrictions that had been in place since 2020. Hawaii last week became the final state to announce an end to its indoor mask mandate. Governor David Ige said the mandate will be lifted at midnight on March 26, when the state's emergency proclamation expires.
The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. as of Saturday stood at 967,552, according to Johns Hopkins.