Two days after being hospitalized with COVID-19, President Donald Trump stated, “I get it,” in a message to the nation Sunday before briefly leaving the hospital to greet supporters of a caravan, a move that suggested that the president would continue to ignore. basic precautions to contain the virus that has killed more than 209,000 Americans.
Hours earlier, Trump’s medical team reported that his blood oxygen level suddenly dropped twice in recent days and that they gave him a steroid that is generally only recommended for the very sick. Doctors also said Trump’s health is improving and that he could be discharged from the hospital on Monday.
A month away from Election Day, Trump was eager to project strength despite his illness. The still contagious president surprised supporters who had gathered outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, driving a black van with the windows closed. Secret Service agents inside the vehicle could be seen wearing masks and other protective gear.
The move capped a weekend of contradictions that fueled confusion over Trump’s health, which has endangered the leadership of the US government and upset the final stages of the presidential campaign. While Trump’s doctors offered an optimistic prognosis, they reported information about drops in his blood oxygen level that was not initially disclosed to the public.
In a short video released by the White House, Trump insisted he understood the gravity of the moment. But his actions moments later, leaving the hospital and sitting inside the van with others, suggested otherwise.
“This is crazy,” said Dr. James P. Phillips, Walter Reed’s GP who is a critic of Trump and his handling of the pandemic. “Every person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary presidential ‘step’ now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They can get sick. They may die “.
“For political theater,” added the doctor. “Ordered by Trump to risk their lives for the theater”.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump’s trip out of the hospital “was cleared by the medical team as insurance.” He added that precautions, including the use of personal protective equipment, were taken to protect Trump, as well as White House officials and Secret Service agents.
I really appreciate all the fans and supporters outside of the hospital. The fact is, they really love our country and are watching WE MAKE IT BIGGER THAN EVER BEFORE!
Joe Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, said the Democratic presidential candidate tested negative for coronavirus again on Sunday. The results come five days after Biden spent more than 90 minutes on stage in the debate with Trump. Biden, who has taken a much more cautious approach to in-person events, had two negative tests on Friday.
For his part, Trump still faces questions about his health.
His doctors avoided questions Sunday about exactly when the oxygen in Trump’s blood dropped, an episode they did not mention in multiple statements the day before, or whether lung scans showed any damage.
It was the second consecutive day of obfuscation of a White House already suffering a credibility crisis. And it raised further questions about whether the doctors treating the president were sharing accurate and timely information with the American public about the severity of his condition.
Pressed by conflicting information that he and the White House released on Saturday, the Commander of the Navy. Dr. Sean Conley acknowledged that he had tried to present an optimistic description of the president’s condition.
“I was trying to reflect the optimistic attitude that the team has had, the president, who has had his course of illness. I did not want to give any information that could direct the course of the disease in another direction, ”said Conley. “And in doing so, you know, it turned out that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true. The fact is that she is doing very well. “
Medical experts said Conley’s disclosures were difficult to square with her positive evaluation and talk of discharge.
“There’s a bit of a disconnect,” said Dr. Steven Shapiro, chief medical and scientific officer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
According to CDC guidelines, “In general, the transportation and movement of a patient with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection out of their room should be limited to medically essential purposes.”
Some Secret Service agents have raised concerns about the indifferent attitude toward masks and social distancing within the White House, but there is not much they can do, according to agents and officials who spoke to The Associated Press. This close to the election, thousands of officers are engaged in protective duties so that they can be quickly replaced should someone test positive.
Revelations about Trump’s oxygen levels and steroid treatment suggested that the president is enduring more than a mild case of COVID-19.
Blood oxygen saturation is a key health marker for COVID-19 patients. A normal reading is between 95 and 100. Conley said the president had a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on Friday and during “another episode” on Saturday.
He was evasive about the timing of Trump’s oxygen dips. (“It was in the course of the day, yeah, yesterday morning,” he said) and asked if Trump’s level had dropped below 90%, into worrying territory. (“We don’t have any recording here on that”). But it revealed that Trump was given a dose of the steroid dexamethasone in response.
At the time of the briefing, Trump’s blood oxygen level was 98%, within normal rage, Trump’s medical team said.
Signs of pneumonia or other lung damage could be detected on scans before the patient feels short of breath, but the president’s doctors declined to say what those scans have revealed.
“There are some expected findings, but nothing of great clinical concern,” Conley said. She declined to outline those “expected findings.”
When asked about Conley’s lack of transparency, White House aide Alyssa Farah suggested that the doctors were talking to both the president and the American public, “when you’re treating a patient, you want to project trust, you want to lift their spirits, and that was the intention. “
Biden took his attack announcements off the air during Trump’s hospitalization, and on Sunday sent high-level aides to deliver a largely friendly message.
“We sincerely hope that the president recovers very quickly, and we can see him back in the election campaign very soon,” Biden’s adviser Symone Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
He added: “This is an obvious reminder that the virus is real.”
In all, nearly 7.4 million people have been infected in the United States, and few have access to the kind of 24-hour experimental care and treatments like Trump.
Trump’s treatment with the steroid dexamethasone is in addition to the single dose he received Friday of an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that supplies antibodies to help the immune system fight the virus. Trump also began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for patients with moderate and severe illnesses, on Friday. Medications work in different ways: Antibodies help the immune system remove the virus from the body, and remdesivir slows the virus’ ability to multiply.
Garibaldi, a specialist in pulmonary intensive care, said the president did not show any side effects from the drugs “that we can say.”
The National Institutes of Health’s COVID-19 treatment guidelines recommend not using dexamethasone in patients who do not require oxygen. It has only been shown to help in more serious cases. One of the concerns with past use is that steroids tamp down certain immune cells, hampering the body’s ability to fight infection.
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk for serious complications.
First lady Melania Trump has remained in the White House as she recovers from her own attack with the virus.
Several White House officials this weekend expressed frustration at the level of transparency and public disclosure since the president announced his diagnosis early Friday.
They were particularly upset about the whiplash between Conley’s optimistic assessment Saturday and Meadows’ more concerned outlook. Privately, they acknowledge that the administration has little credibility on COVID-19 and that they have unnecessarily squandered what’s left of it with the lack of clear and accurate updates on Trump’s condition.
Many in the White House are also shocked and scared, nervous that they have been exposed to the virus and facing the reality that what looked like a security bubble has become a focus of COVID-19. The White House took until Sunday to send a generic note to employees suggesting that they not come to the building if they were not feeling well.
