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Agence France-Presse

Barack Obama has tested positive for a mild case of Covid-19, the former US president said on his Twitter account on Sunday.
“I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise,” Obama tweeted, adding that his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, has so far tested negative.
“Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted,” he wrote.

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.

It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 13, 2022

Obama, plus fellow former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W Bush, Bill Clinton – and the former first ladies – appeared together in a one-minute video released last March, endorsing the US vaccination campaign and sharing what they missed about pre-pandemic life.
“This vaccine means hope,” Obama said in the video. “It will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease.”




In August, Obama scaled back his 60th birthday celebrations due to the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Conservative political opponents had lashed out at the former president for planning to host an outdoor party – in which attendees were required to be vaccinated – that had been expected to draw hundreds of guests after Democrats had criticised Donald Trump’s administration for organising several maskless events at the White House.
Obama reiterated his support for the vaccine in his tweet on Sunday, saying his own positive test was “a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down”.
Trump reveals he got a Covid-19 booster, crowd boos him
Despite a vocal anti-vaccination constituency in the country, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say more than 80 per cent of all people ages five and older in the United States have had at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose.
US daily case counts have fallen off sharply, according to the CDC, with an average of around 35,000 cases per day in mid-March compared to a peak of an average of 810,000 cases per day in mid-January.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Barack Obama tests positive for Covid-19, but ‘feeling fine’

Former US president Barack Obama has tested positive for Covid-19. Photo: AFP

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President Xi Jinping (left) and then US president Barack Obama chat as they take a walk at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, on June 8, 2013. Photo: AFP

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French Prime Minister Jean Castex. Photo: AFP

News

World

United States & Canada

Coronavirus

US & Canada


Former US president says has scratchy throat, wife Michelle tested negative
Obama encouraged more Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus



Former US president said he’s feeling relatively healthy and his wife, Michelle, tested negative.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

United States

Barack Obama

Barack Obama tests positive for Covid-19, but ‘feeling fine’

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Former US president says has scratchy throat, wife Michelle tested negative Obama encouraged more Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus

Former US president says has scratchy throat, wife Michelle tested negative

Obama encouraged more Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus