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United States President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2020, following campaign events in New Jersey. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
WASHINGTON, United States – A “fatigued” president, Donald Trump, is receiving an experimental treatment for COVID-19, his doctor said on Friday, after news that the Republican had contracted the virus caused new upheaval in his fight for reelection one month prior to election day.
A letter from White House physician Sean Conley said Trump received a single dose of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail, a treatment that is in clinical trials but has yet to be approved by regulators.
“It is being evaluated by a team of experts, and together we will make recommendations to the president and the first lady regarding the next best steps,” Conley wrote.
The update seemed less optimistic than reports given by Trump’s aides the previous Friday.
Briefing reporters at the White House, Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said that the 74-year-old president had only mild symptoms and was spending his quarantine at the residence in “good spirits”, feeling “very energetic”.
Trump’s disappearance from the election campaign threw up an immediate and giant question mark about the fate of his run for a second term, which opinion polls show him on track to lose to Democrat Joe Biden.
The main theme of Biden’s campaign has been that Trump’s frequent downplaying of the pandemic and mixed messages about wearing masks are to blame for the scale of the crisis in the United States, where more than 200,000 people have died.
Biden, who was very close to Trump for 90 minutes during their first moody debate Tuesday in Cleveland, announced that he and his wife Jill had been tested and tested negative.
Underscoring his sudden lead in the bitter career, the 77-year-old Biden traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and followed through with a previously scheduled campaign stoppage.
While saying he was praying for Trump and his family, Biden issued a stern reprimand at the man who has repeatedly taunted him for his rigorous use of masks and now finds himself infected.
“This is not a question of politics,” Biden said through a blue surgical mask. “It is an invigorating reminder to all of us that we must take this virus seriously.”
Asking Americans to wear masks, Biden said: “Be a patriot. It’s not about being a tough guy. It’s about doing your part. “
Grounded campaign
Trump, who has repeatedly questioned the severity of the pandemic, first announced in an overnight tweet that he and first lady Melania Trump, 50, had tested positive and were in quarantine.
The shocking announcement sparked a freeze on his plans to raze the country in an attempt to catch up with Biden before November 3.
The Trump campaign said all planned events involving the president were postponed or going virtual, starting with the cancellation of a rally on Friday in Florida, a Saturday in Wisconsin and others in western states like Arizona next week.
Even the second Trump-Biden debate, scheduled for October 15, is now in doubt.
Despite assurances from the White House that Trump continued to work, he did not keep the only item left on his public agenda on Friday: a phone call to discuss what was billed as “COVID-19 support for vulnerable older people. “.
An official who asked not to be identified said that “you should not read too much in a small time change.”
The White House did not say whether Trump will address the nation soon.
Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany only told Fox News: “You will see and hear the president as he goes along.”
Staff are “having to hold him back a bit” and “make sure he takes it easy,” he said.
Contact tracking
The news of Trump’s infection came just after one of his closest advisers, Hope Hicks, tested positive, sparking fears that a cluster of cases emanated from the heart of the White House.
Trump met with dozens of people during the week and reportedly went to a fundraiser in New Jersey after it became known that Hicks had contracted the virus.
The White House said it was conducting contact tracing, while Melania Trump’s spokeswoman said the couple’s 14-year-old son, Barron, had tested negative.
Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo all let it be known that they had tested negative, and the White House said Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett also tested negative.
Technically obese and in his 70s, Trump is in a higher risk category.
Dr. Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease specialist in the New York area, told AFP that Trump had an estimated 20 percent chance of developing a serious illness that required oxygenation.
As the news rocked global stock markets, leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany and Boris Johnson of Great Britain wished the president and first lady a speedy recovery, while Vladimir Putin of Russia predicted that “vitality, good spirits and optimism “Trump’s would carry it out.
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