Biden, 80, declared ‘fit for duty’ after physical exam

US President Joe Biden hurries back to the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 16, 2023 after completing an annual medical checkup. (AFP)

• The exam was closely watched as Biden prepares for his expected run for a second term in 2024

BETHESDA, Maryland: Doctors declared US President Joe Biden, 80, healthy and “fit for duty” on Thursday after a physical examination that included removing a lesion from his chest and declaring him free of symptoms of long-COVID after testing positive last year for the coronavirus.
“The president remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a summary of the health exam. Biden is a “healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male,” he wrote.
The exam was closely watched as Biden prepares for his expected run for a second term in 2024. The summary said Biden did not have any “long COVID” symptoms and that his stiff gait has not worsened since his last exam in November 2021.
Biden’s three-hour session with doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, was his second extensive exam since taking office in January 2021.