October 6, 2020 7:48:04 am
US President Donald Trump removes his protective mask on the Truman Balcony of the White House in Washington. (Photographer: Ken Cedeno / Polaris / Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump returned to the white house Monday night after three days of treatment for Covid-19 in a military hospital, and officials plan to significantly restrict physical access to him as he continues his recovery.
“The White House is taking all necessary precautions to protect not only himself and the first family, but all staff members who work at the complex,” spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement Monday night. He said that anyone who approaches Trump would wear personal protective equipment.
Trump only said “thank you very much” to those gathered at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center before boarding the presidential helicopter for his flight back to the White House. Back at the residence, he climbed the stairs from the South Portico to the balcony, where he removed his mask, showed his thumbs up with both hands, and waved for several seconds.
He did not appear to put the mask back on before entering the residence. The display of defiance toward the virus and public health measures to combat its spread was in keeping with the president’s tone when she announced that she would be leaving the Bethesda, Maryland hospital.
In a video posted shortly thereafter, Trump said of the virus: “Don’t let it take over.”
“I knew it was dangerous. But he had to. I stood in front. I led. No one who is a leader would not do what I did. I know there is a risk. I know there is a danger. But it’s okay. And now I’m better. Maybe I’m immune, I don’t know, ”he said.
“Get out, be careful,” Trump added. “The vaccines will arrive momentarily.”
The president has received medical care that is not available to most people, including three powerful medications and an airlift to and from the hospital. The virus has infected more than 7.4 million Americans and killed more than 210,000 since February, including 475 on Sunday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Trump will continue to receive 24-hour medical care from his doctor and other health personnel in the White House, Deere said.
Aides to the president hope to keep it in the White House residence and away from the Oval Office, but are not sure how long it will last, according to people familiar with the matter. “We will be back to the election campaign soon !!!” Trump tweeted before leaving the hospital.
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“Over the past 24 hours, the president has continued to improve. He has met or exceeded all hospital discharge criteria, “White House physician Sean Conley said in a briefing after Trump’s announcement.
Trump “may not be completely out of the woods,” but the rest of his care can be safely done at the White House, Conley said.
The president received a fourth dose of an antiviral drug, Remdesivir, at Walter Reed before being discharged and will receive a fifth dose at the White House, his medical team said.
“He is returning to a facility, the White House medical unit, which is staffed 24/7,” Conley said. “Every day a patient stays in the hospital unnecessarily is a risk to himself.”
Conley said that coronavirus patients can stop spreading the virus in as little as five days after diagnosis, and that Trump would be monitored to determine when he is no longer infectious. The White House plans to have Trump stay at the residence for a few days before returning to normal, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
The White House is creating additional space for Trump to work in the residence and avoid heading to the Oval Office, by converting the Map Room and Diplomatic Reception Room into office space, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Conley admitted that the course of Trump’s illness could still change. “We all remain cautiously optimistic and on guard because we are in uncharted territory when it comes to a patient who received the therapies that he received so early in the course,” he said.
“We look forward to this weekend,” added Conley. “If we can get to Monday with him staying the same or improving, even better, then we will all breathe that last sigh of relief.”
Trump has received doses of two other drugs, including an experimental “antibody cocktail” and a steroid, dexamethasone, which is generally used to fight inflammation in people with more severe cases of Covid-19.
During the press conference, one of Trump’s doctors read a list of the president’s vital signs as of this morning, including his temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation level. His medical team has not previously released those data to the public.
President Donald Trump passes supporters gathered outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Sunday, October 4, 2020. Trump was admitted to the hospital after contracting COVID-19. (AP Photo / Anthony Peltier)
But Conley declined to discuss the results of Trump’s lung scans, citing federal health privacy law.
Trump went to the hospital Friday night, after announcing earlier that morning that he had tested positive for the virus. He was briefly given supplemental oxygen at the White House before traveling to Walter Reed, Conley said Sunday.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday she tested positive for the new coronavirus, adding her to a growing list of infected Trump associates that includes First Lady Melania Trump, at least two White House aides traveling with the president and three Republican senators.
With less than a month to go until Election Day, Trump’s hospitalization has rocked the presidential campaign, forcing him to scrap rallies and other events as polls show him behind Joe Biden nationally and in the states. undecided. His campaign has launched “Operation MAGA,” in reference to its Make America Great Again slogan, to flood the campaign with top surrogates like Vice President Mike Pence, the Trump family and others.
Among those in attendance who were with the president Monday night as he prepared to drop off Max Miller, the deputy campaign manager for presidential operations, and Bobby Peede, the White House advancement director. They arrived at the hospital shortly before 3 p.m. and made their way to the presidential suite.
Peede had the coronavirus earlier this year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Trump’s release comes after a weekend of mixed signals from Conley, who on Sunday revealed for the first time that the president had received supplemental oxygen and received a drug normally used in more severe Covid-19 patients.
When asked why he did not reveal during Saturday’s briefing that Trump had received oxygen despite repeated questions about it, Conley said: “I was trying to reflect the optimistic attitude” of the team and the president.
White House physician Dr. Sean Conley speaks with reporters about President Donald Trump’s health outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on October 4, 2020 (Anna Moneymaker / The New York Times) .
Trump was diagnosed with the disease Thursday night after a close associate, Hope Hicks, also tested positive for the virus.
The president tested positive for the first time after returning from a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf course on Thursday, McEnany told reporters Sunday night. Trump made an appearance on Fox News Thursday night before revealing on Twitter shortly after midnight Friday that he had tested positive.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday criticized Trump’s trip to the fundraiser at his Bedminster golf resort in the state, saying it should have been canceled. The president attended the event despite knowing that Hicks had tested positive.
Biden, speaking in Miami, wished Trump and the first lady the best and said he hoped the president would take wearing masks seriously.
“I was glad to see the president speaking and videotaping over the weekend,” Biden said. “Now that you are busy tweeting campaign messages, I would ask you to do this: listen to the scientists, support the masks.”
He noted that the Trump administration has rejected a mask mandate as recently as Friday, the day Trump was hospitalized.
“I saw a tweet he made, they showed it to me, he said ‘don’t let Covid control your life.’ Say that to the 205,000 families who lost someone, ”Biden said in an interview with WPLG, the Miami ABC affiliate.
The Trump campaign is not expected to require people attending the rallies to wear masks, but it will continue to distribute them, along with hand sanitizer, said a person familiar with the matter.
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