CDC director’s COVID returns as study finds such rebounds shockingly common

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has experienced a COVID-19 rebound—a return of mild symptoms and positive tests after completing a course of the antiviral drug Paxlovid and testing negative—the CDC announced today.

Walensky first tested positive on October 21 and experienced mild symptoms. She completed a five-day course of Paxlovid, recovered, and tested negative. But on Sunday, October 30, her mild symptoms returned, and she once again tested positive, the agency reported. Walensky now joins the ever-growing ranks of people reporting rebounds after Paxlovid, including high-profile rebounders such as President Biden and top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. But, according to a small study published in JAMA Network Open last week, rebounds may be surprisingly common in all COVID-19 cases—even those not treated with Paxlovid.

The study looked more closely at daily symptom data from 158 untreated people with COVID-19, who acted as a placebo group in a drug trial. They were followed for 28 days after their COVID-19 cases began. In that time frame, 108 of the 158 people—68 percent—reported a recovery in which their symptoms fully resolved for at least two days. But, of those 108 people, 48 people—44 percent—reported a return of symptoms before the end of the 28-day follow-up period.