Dr. Anthony Fauci tested positive for COVID-19

The chief medical advisor of U.S. President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci tested positive for Covid-19 in a rapid antigen test. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Anthony Fauci tested positive on Wednesday but is experiencing mild symptoms, according to a statement from NIAND.

The agency said, “He is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice, he is currently experiencing mild symptoms. Dr. Fauci will isolate and continue to work from his home. He has not recently been in close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials.”

Fauci was scheduled to speak Thursday at a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on the status of the federal response to Covid-19 and plans to manage the pandemic. The agency said he will attend by videoconference.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the director of NIAID since 1984 and has advised seven Presidents. He has been working non-stop since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, Fauci had hinted that there may be the need for the fourth-dose boost in the United States to battle with COVID-19 variant Omicron, adding that the booster could be based on age, as well as underlying conditions of the individual.

“There may be the need for yet again another boost — in this case, a fourth-dose boost for an individual receiving the mRNA — that could be based on age, as well as underlying conditions,” Dr. Fauci said that the White House briefing on Wednesday.

The U.S. is facing an upsurge in the daily positive cases. Nearly 86 million Americans have been infected with Covid in the past 18 months. Slightly more than 1 million people in the U.S. have died from the virus, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.