President Donald Trump's COVID-19 Treatment: What We Know
US President Donald Trump has left hospital and returned to the White House, where he will continue to be treated for the coronavirus.
Trump's COVID-19 Treatment: What we know
US President Donald Trump has left hospital and returned to the White House, where he will continue to be treated for the coronavirus.
Mr Trump emerged from the front doors of Walter Reed Medical Centre at 6:40pm, local time and flashed a thumbs up to the cameras before getting into his car.
“Mr President, how many staff are sick? How many of your staff are sick?” a reporter asked as Mr Trump walked past.
“Thank you very much everyone,” the President said.
“Do you think you might be a superspreader, Mr President?” the reporter shouted after him.
He gave no indication that he had heard the question.
The motorcade took Mr Trump to his helicopter, Marine One. He boarded it with a wave, and a short time later landed on the White House lawn.
When he reached the White House’s balcony, the President turned and waved again. He removed his face mask before wandering inside.
Mr Trump had revealed his intention to leave hospital on Twitter earlier in the day, saying he was “feeling really good”.
“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today,” he said.
“Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life.
“We have developed, under the Trump administration, some really great drugs and knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
He promised to return to the campaign trail soon.
Mr Trump also shared quotes from an opinion piece in The New York Post, written by Australian Miranda Devine, which hailed his “bravery”.
“If the President bounces back onto the campaign trail, he will be an invincible hero, who not only survived every trick the Democrats threw at him, but the Chinese virus as well,” Devine wrote.
“Thank you Miranda. Was over until the plague came in from China. Will win anyway!” Mr Trump said approvingly.
We should note that the President is still sick, and the most dangerous phase of the virus tends to be around 7-10 days after a patient develops symptoms. Mr Trump started to report symptoms four days ago, on the day he tested positive.
The President’s physician, Dr Sean Conley, endorsed his decision to leave hospital today.
“Though he may not be entirely out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all his evaluations and, most importantly, his clinical status support his return home, where he’ll be surrounded by world class medical care 24/7,” Dr Conley told reporters in his most recent briefing on Mr Trump’s condition today.
He said it had been more than 72 hours since Mr Trump last had a fever, and his oxygen levels were normal.
“Over the past 24 hours, the President had continued to improve. He’s met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria,” said Dr Conley.
“He’ll receive another dose of remdesivir here today, and then we plan to get him home.”
Mr Trump, 74, has been receiving treatment since Friday at Walter Reed Medical Centre just outside Washington.
Doctors have given him a variety of therapies, including the antiviral drug remdesivir, a steroid called dexamethasone, supplemental oxygen, and an experimental cocktail of antibodies developed by the pharmaceutical company Regeneron.
Mr Trump sought to allay fears about his condition by posting regular video updates in which he thanked supporters for their well wishes and ruminated on how much he had learned about the virus, which has killed 210,000 Americans.
On Sunday evening, he also took a brief joy ride outside the hospital to thank a large crowd of Trump voters who gathered over the weekend, a move that was criticised for unnecessarily exposing his Secret Service agents to infection.
Earlier today, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Mr Trump “continued to improve overnight and is ready to get back to a normal working schedule.”
“[The president] will meet with his doctors and nurses this morning to make further assessments of his progress,” Meadows said, according to Fox News’ John Roberts.
“We are still optimistic that he will be able to return to the White House later today.”
However, news that White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has also tested positive for Covid-19, showed just how infected his circle has become, as he battles for re-election on November 3.
McEnany — the combative, main public interface between Trump and the media, giving daily television interviews and holding frequent briefings — said she was experiencing no symptoms, and no journalists were believed to have come into close contact with her. However, she would go into quarantine.
Other positive cases close to Trump now include his wife Melania, his close aide Hope Hicks, his campaign manager Bill Stepien, two of McEnany’s assistants according to US media, and more than half a dozen others from the president’s circle both inside and outside the White House.
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