Former U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was feeling fine other than a scratchy throat.
“I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise,” Obama wrote on Twitter.
“Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted,” the former President said in a Facebook post. “It’s a good reminder that, even as cases go down, you should get vaccinated and boosted if you haven’t already to help prevent more serious symptoms and giving COVID to others.”
Obama, 60, had recently returned to Washington, DC, after spending much of the winter in Hawaii. He tested positive in DC, a person close to him said.
The diagnosis makes Obama the second US President known to contract the virus after then-President Donald Trump announced he tested positive in October 2020, which was before vaccines were widely available in the US.
Obama has been a champion of public health measure throughout the pandemic. Last August, he dramatically scaled back his 60th birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard due to concerns at the time over the Delta variant.