Joe Biden completes medical as he prepares for the 2024 run

Washington: Despite testing positive for the coronavirus twice in the past year, US President Joe Biden has no long-term symptoms and was declared “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” to carry out his White House duties, according to his most recent routine medical examination.

The findings were included in a memo from Biden’s doctor summarizing the tests conducted during a three-hour stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Thursday (Friday AEDT).

The conclusions of Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s personal physician since 2009, is likely to come under scrutiny as the oldest president in US history makes plans for an anticipated re-election campaign.

O’Connor concluded in the five-page memo that Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old man fit to carry out the duties of the presidency successfully.” But the doctor didn’t speculate about where Biden’s health might be at age 86 when a second term could end.

The president had a lesion removed from his chest, which will undergo a traditional biopsy. But the findings were broadly consistent with findings after the president’s last physical in November 2021, which said his cough was due to acid reflux and his stiff gait was due to spinal arthritis, a previously fractured foot and neuropathy in his feet.

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The memo called Biden’s health generally “stable” compared to his last physical, though it noted his calves and hamstrings may have tightened.

Biden tested positive for COVID-19 in July and had “very mild symptoms,” according to the White House. He also had a rebound infection and finally tested negative on August 6 last year. The President continued to work even as he isolated himself in the White House.

“Well, everything was going really well,” Biden told NBC News Thursday of the pre-release memo review.