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Monday, October 05, 2020, 09:56
Trump's COVID-19 status unclear, could return to White House Monday
By Reuters
Monday, October 05, 2020, 09:56 By Reuters

US President Donald Trump drives past supporters gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct 4, 2020. (ANTHONY PELTIER / AP)

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump began a fourth day at the military hospital on Monday where he is being treated for COVID-19, as his condition remained unclear and outside experts warned his case may be severe.

The president’s team is treating Trump, 74, with a steroid, dexmethasone, that is normally used only in the most severe cases.

The president’s team is treating Trump, 74, with a steroid, dexmethasone, that is normally used only in the most severe cases

Yet, his medical team told reporters on Sunday that Trump could return to the White House as early as Monday. Even if he does, he will need to continue treatment as the Republican president is still undergoing a five-day course of an intravenous antiviral drug, remdesivir. The normal quarantine period for anyone testing positive for the coronavirus is 14 days.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Monday reiterated the hope that Trump would be released shortly from the hospital.

 “He will meet with his doctors and nurses this morning to make further assessments of his progress,” Meadows told Fox News. “We are still optimistic that he will be able to return to the White House later today.”

Sequestered at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington since Friday, Trump has released a series of videos in an effort to reassure the public that he is recovering from a disease caused by a novel coronavirus that has infected 7.4 million Americans and killed more than 209,000.

On Sunday, he also left his hospital room to ride in a White House motorcade that drove him past supporters gathered outside the hospital. Dressed in a suit jacket, shirt but no tie and a black mask, it marked Trump’s first in-person public appearance since Friday.

Critics and medical experts blasted Trump for the move, which potentially exposed the staff in his car to infection.

On Monday, his Twitter account released a stream of more than a dozen messages including “LAW & ORDER. VOTE!” and “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. VOTE!”

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed Trump trailing Biden by 10 percentage points. About 65 percent of Americans said Trump would not have been infected had he taken the virus more seriously. Trump has consistently downplayed the risks of the pandemic since it first emerged this year, and he has repeatedly flouted social-distancing guidelines meant to curb its spread.

"It's a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID," he said in a video posted on Twitter shortly beforehand.

ALSO READ: Trump says next days of COVID-19 treatment will be 'real test'

Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden tested negative again for the disease that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, his campaign said on Sunday. The former vice-president, who shared a debate stage with Trump last Tuesday, previously tested negative in two tests on Friday, the day Trump disclosed his coronavirus infection.

Doctors said the president was improving, although they were monitoring the condition of his lungs after he received supplemental oxygen. They said he could be sent back to the White House as soon as Monday.

But Dr. Sean P. Conley said the president's condition had been worse than he previously admitted. Conley said Trump's blood oxygen levels had dropped in prior days and that he had run a high fever on Friday morning.

Asked what tests had revealed about the condition of Trump's lungs, Conley replied: "There's some expected findings, but nothing of any major clinical concern."

Conley's response suggested the X-rays revealed some signsf pneumonia, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University.

"The expected finding is that he has evidence of pneumonia in the X-ray. If it was normal they would just say it is normal," Adalja said.

Other doctors not involved in Trump's treatment said there was evidence his case was severe. Trump is being given dexmethasone, a steroid used in severe COVID cases, as well as the intravenous antiviral drug Remdesivir and an experimental antibody treatment from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

READ MORE: Xi wishes Trump, Melania speedy recovery

"It would be very unlikely for him to be out and about, and on the campaign trail in less than 14 days," said Dr. David Battinelli, chief medical officer at New York's Northwell Health.

Administration officials have given contradictory assessments of Trump's health. Conley and other doctors delivered a positive prognosis on Saturday, which was promptly undercut by Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

"I was trying to reflect an upbeat attitude of the team and the president about the course his illness has had," Conley told reporters on Sunday. "I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction."


White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump's surprise move had been approved by medical staff and that appropriate precautions had been taken

'Irresponsibility'

Trump spent much of the year downplaying the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected 7.4 million Americans, killed more than 209,000, and caused an economic downturn that has thrown millions out of work.

He said he had been meeting soldiers and first responders at the hospital, raising new questions about whether he was now directly exposing others to the disease.

Critics said personnel who traveled in Trump's armored SUV during the afternoon motorcade would now have to self-quarantine for 14 days. "The irresponsibility is astounding," Dr. James Phillips, an attending physician at the hospital, said on Twitter.

The White House Correspondents Association objected that reporters had not been told about Trump's drive-by before it happened.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said the trip had been approved by medical staff and that appropriate precautions had been taken.

In this image grab made from video, US President Donald Trump waves as he drives past supporters gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct 4, 2020. (CARLOS VARGAS / AP)

Health officials in New Jersey said they were trying to track down more than 200 people who attended a Trump fundraising event at his golf course there on Thursday. Trump traveled to the event after close adviser Hope Hicks had contracted the virus, and just hours before he announced that he had tested positive.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News that Trump tested positive after that fundraiser, not beforehand.

Trump's illness has upended his re-election campaign as it seeks to fend off Biden in the final month of the race. Several members of his inner circle have also tested positive for the disease, as well as three Republican members of the US Senate.

ALSO READ: Pompeo shortens upcoming Asia trip after Trump's infection

Two members of the White House residence staff tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks ago, and Trump's "body man" aide, Nicholas Luna, has also tested positive, according to a source familiar with the situation.


Trump's campaign vowed that Vice-President Mike Pence, who would assume the presidency if Trump were unable to carry out his duties, would have an "aggressive" campaign schedule this week, as would Trump's three oldest children

'Aggressive' campaign continues

Biden in recent days has wished Trump a speedy recovery, while also criticizing his response to the pandemic.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Sunday found Biden had opened a 10-point lead over Trump nationally, slightly wider than it has been for the past two months. Some 65 percent of Americans said Trump likely would not have been infected had he taken the virus more seriously - a view that half of registered

Republicans polled supported. Some 55 percent said they did not believe Trump had been telling the truth about the virus.

Trump's campaign vowed that Vice-President Mike Pence, who would assume the presidency if Trump were unable to carry out his duties, would have an "aggressive" campaign schedule this week, as would Trump's three oldest children.

READ MORE: US election 2020: What happens if a candidate becomes incapacitated

"We can't stay in our basement or shut down the economy indefinitely. We have to take it head-on," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

Pence, who tested negative on Friday, is scheduled to debate Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday.


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