US chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci tests positive for COVID-19

Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor and the face of America's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday said that Fauci, who is fully vaccinated and doubly boosted, has mild symptoms and is working from home.

"He is currently experiencing mild symptoms," the NIH said, adding that the 81-year-old had not been in recent close contact with Biden or any other official recently.

"Fauci will follow the COVID-19 guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical advice from his physician and return to the NIH when he tests negative," it said.

Fauci’s office told ABC News that he’s taking Pfizer’s antiviral treatment Paxlovid.

In an interview to CNN last month, the top scientist said that he had never tested Covid positive.

US has been witnessing a fresh spurt in breakthrough infections in recent months largely driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

The current wave of cases began in April with the spread of the BA.2 “stealth” variant. Since mid-May, cases have been hovering at the 100,000 per day mark, with little indication on whether they will rise or fall in the coming weeks and months of summer.

According to the Coronavirus Resource Center at the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, nearly 86 million Americans have been infected with Covid in the past 18 months. Slightly more than 1 million people in the US have died from the virus.

Meanwhile, a panel of experts convened by the US Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday for children under five, the final age group awaiting immunization in most countries.

(With inputs from agencies)

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