WASHINGTON — Maybe it was only a matter of time.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s high medical adviser for the coronavirus pandemic, has examined optimistic for the virus and is experiencing “delicate signs,” the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments mentioned Wednesday.

Dr. Fauci, director of the institute, examined optimistic on a speedy antigen take a look at, the company mentioned in an announcement. He added that he was totally vaccinated towards the virus and had been boosted twice. He takes Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral remedy licensed by the Meals and Drug Administration for the remedy of covid-19, an company spokeswoman mentioned.

The information that Dr. Fauci, one of many world’s main infectious illness specialists and a family title because of the pandemic, had fallen sufferer to the coronavirus reverberated throughout Washington and the nation. The optimistic take a look at was a primary for Dr. Fauci, who’s 81 years outdated.

However with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention estimating that greater than half of Individuals have contracted Covid-19, he isn’t the one big-name sufferer. Xavier Becerra, the secretary of well being and human companies, examined optimistic Monday for the second time in lower than a month. Consultant Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, 83, introduced Tuesday that she had examined optimistic; she had additionally finished it in April.

Dr. Fauci has not been in shut contact with Mr. Biden or different high authorities officers just lately and “will self-isolate and proceed to work at home,” his institute’s assertion mentioned. He’ll return to his workplace as soon as he exams destructive.

However he had been making public appearances. The AIDS Medical Trials Group, a community of a whole bunch of researchers conducting research to enhance remedy of HIV and associated infections, is assembly in Washington this week, and Dr. Fauci, whose lab work has targeted on the HIV/AIDS, addressed the group in individual on Tuesday.

Together with different high federal well being officers, Dr. Fauci was anticipated to testify Thursday earlier than the Senate well being committee on the standing of the pandemic. An official mentioned Dr. Fauci’s institute was working with members of the committee’s workers to rearrange a distant look.

Whereas a lot of the nation seems to be making an attempt to maneuver on, the coronavirus stays a pervasive menace. In response to a New York Instances database, greater than 100,000 new circumstances are nonetheless being recognized every day in the US, a determine that has remained largely flat by means of June. Many consultants imagine the quantity is an undercount as a result of many individuals take exams at house whose outcomes aren’t recorded with public well being authorities.

Whereas circumstances are declining within the Northeast and Midwest, circumstances and hospitalizations are rising within the West and South. Stories of deaths, nonetheless, stay low. Fewer than 350 deaths are reported every day, The Instances database reveals, down from greater than 2,600 every day on the peak of the Omicron surge.

Dr. Fauci has spent half a century in authorities and has suggested seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan, on threats from epidemics and pandemics.

However the coronavirus pandemic turned Dr. Fauci right into a political lightning rod. His public insistence on taking well being precautions like sporting masks and social distancing made him a frequent goal of critics who questioned or opposed such measures.

Maybe greater than anybody, he is aware of how infectious the coronavirus is. This spring, he determined to not attend the White Home Correspondents’ Dinner, a gathering of outstanding political and media figures at which the president appeared, “due to my particular person evaluation of my private danger,” he mentioned then. On the time, Dr. Fauci was making ready for different public engagements, together with graduation addresses at Princeton and the College of Michigan.

The correspondents’ dinner, which drew greater than 2,000 visitors to a packed lodge ballroom, ended up spreading the virus amongst many journalists and different attendees.

“It is a matter of time earlier than all of us get contaminated, truthfully; this virus has change into so transmissible,” Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious illness specialist at Emory College, mentioned Wednesday. “What I inform folks is that sooner or later you’ll run into this virus, as a result of we’re doing extra issues and coming collectively. And if you are going to run into the virus, you’d higher get vaccinated and beefed up.”