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US President Donald J. Trump gestures after returning to the White House, in Washington, DC, USA, on October 5, 2020, after several days at the Medical Center National Military Walter Reed to receive treatment for COVID-19. EPA-EFE / KEN CEDENO / POOL
US President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday, October 5, amid questions about his treatment and health. A doctor on Trump’s medical team said the president had been given remdesivir as part of his treatment.
Arriving by helicopter at the White House, President Trump crossed the lawn and climbed the steps to the upper level of the residence, where he stopped to take a photo. He took off his mask to salute, raised his thumb and greeted Marine One as he walked away.
Trump received three doses of remdesivir while he was being treated at Walter Reed Medical Center. Dr. Brian Garibaldi told reporters that Trump would receive five doses in total: a fourth before leaving the hospital and a fifth and final on Tuesday, October 6 at the White House. Garibaldi said the president would continue be treated with dexamethasone.
The news of the steroid treatment was greeted with concern by other medical experts. Trump’s doctors said they had administered dexamethasone after his oxygen levels dropped. One of the concerns surrounding treatment is that it suppresses the immune system and can cause side effects such as headaches, aggression, anxiety, and irregular heartbeats.
Known by some US media as the “patient in chief”, the news of Trump’s intention to leave the hospital was revealed by the patient himself through Twitter. He tweeted early Monday that he would be leaving the hospital at 6:30 pm and that he felt “better than I did 20 years ago.”
I’ll be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 pm I feel really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it rule your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs and knowledge. I feel better than 20 years ago!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed on Friday, October 2 after it became known that both he and the First Lady had contracted Covid-19. Three days later, following his tweet that he was leaving the hospital, concerns were raised about his return to a White House that was still finding new cases of Covid-19.
And while Trump said in his tweet: “Don’t be afraid of Covid,” his doctor, Sean Conley, said that the president would be monitored very carefully at the White House and that Trump could not be completely out of the woods yet.
Trump’s determination to put Covid-19 behind him comes as the country faces a daily increase in new coronavirus cases. The global count stands at just over 35 million cases, and the United States accounts for about seven and a half million of them. The United States has a death toll of just over 210,000 and the latest reports indicate that the number of positive cases is increasing by more than half a dozen states.
On Sunday, October 4, CNN reported that only three states reported a decline in cases over the past week. From September 29 to October 3, the United States averaged 46,500 new cases daily.
Over the weekend, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed closing businesses in nine New York neighborhoods after tipping points emerged just over a week ago. This saw the unhappy coincidence of numbers in New York City spike just as restaurants were scheduled to start eating 25% indoors.
On Monday, October 5, the Governor of New York Chris Cuomo said that instead of closing non-essential deals, The state police would impose fines on people who do not wear masks.
Many of New York City’s hotspots have large Orthodox Jewish populations, such as Borough Park, Sheepshead Bay and Bensonhurst in southern Brooklyn, and Cuomo is scheduled to meet with Orthodox Jewish leaders on Tuesday, September 6. The governor has said that he will close synagogues if they do not strictly adhere to physical distancing regulations.
Cuomo also ordered the closure of schools in critical areas, meaning that about 100 New York City public schools would close on Tuesday, October 6. DM
An Wentzel is a nighttime editor, specialist reporter for the Daily Maverick, she went to the United States to visit her family when the pandemic hit and is currently abandoned in the land of the ‘free’.
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