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On Friday morning, President Donald Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. NTNU professor of social medicine Steinar Westin tells Dagbladet that the risk for Trump is dramatically higher than it is for the first lady.
The risk of getting seriously ill increases dramatically from Melania, who is 50 years old, to Donald Trump, who is 74 years old. That age difference means that he is at higher risk for a more serious illness than she is. But of course, they treat it in the best way possible, says Westin.
– There is something about this virus that we have not fully discovered, which means that the risk of a serious disease course increases dramatically with age. 74 years is not fun.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through it TOGETHER!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Offside
The National Institute of Public Health concludes that old age stands out as the dominant factor in hospitalization, serious illness and death from covid-19.
In June, the White House issued President Trump’s annual health certificate, which showed he is 192 centimeters tall and weighs 110.7 kilograms. With a BMI of 29.8, Trump is overweight and on the verge of obesity. FHI also considers obesity as a factor that may be associated with an increased risk.
– Since Trump is an older man, there is obviously a higher chance that he could get seriously ill. We remember how serious it was, even for Boris Johnson, who is younger. So it is very possible that he will be knocked out for a while. And, of course, it will be important for the election campaign, says Westin.
Westin refers to when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized and received intensive care after being diagnosed with Covid-19 in April. At the time, Trump referred to Johnson as a close friend and asked a pharmaceutical company to look into whether there was anything they could contribute.
As many Americans have done this year, @potus & I am home quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19. We feel good and I have postponed all the next commitments. Please make sure you are safe and we will all get through this together.
– Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2020
Feel good
First Lady Melania Trump claims on Twitter that she and President Trump are quarantined at home. She also states that they are fine and that she postponed all appointments. Both the president and the first lady write that “we will get through this together.”
– Evidently, Donald Trump has been neglected for a long time, even with these election campaign events. At the same time, Trump personally may have been cautious. He hasn’t seemed like he’s gotten into crowds, and I haven’t seen him shake hands lately, says Westin, continuing:
But it is clear that he associates with many of his own people. He has behaved in a way that is not surprising that he has been infected.
It’s not fun
Westin, a professor at NTNU, points out that there are also many people in their 70s who survive covid-19 infection.
– At the same time that the probability of a serious illness of COVID-19 increases dramatically with age, the majority of people in their 70s exceed it. It is mainly people over 80 who have died in Norway, says Westin.
Dexamethasone is considered one of the most promising drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. Researchers at the University of Oxford found earlier this year that treatment with the drug reduced mortality among patients on a ventilator by a third. For patients with other respiratory aids, mortality was reduced by a fifth.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health also believes that three medications could possibly shorten the duration of symptoms compared to standard treatment: hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir, and lopinavir-ritonavir. At the same time, they note that hydroxychloroquine may increase the risk of side effects.
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