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On Friday Donald Trump, 74, announced on his personal page on the social network Twitter that, like the first lady, Melania, he had tested positive for coronavirus and would be in quarantine.
Hours later, he was admitted as a precautionary measure to the Walter Reed Military Hospital.
“We are not yet on a clear path to a full recovery,” said Mark Meadows, contradicting the assessment made by White House staff since Trump revealed his diagnosis, as well as by his doctors, who updated the public today at a conference of press at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The Navy Commander and Dr. Sean Conley’s press conference raised more questions than it answered, as Conley repeatedly declined to say whether the president ever needed supplemental oxygen and to discuss exactly when he got sick.
Conley also revealed that Trump began displaying “clinical indications” for covid-19 on Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known.
“Thursday without oxygen. None at the moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said.
But according to a person familiar with the US president’s health condition, cited anonymously by the Associated Press, Trump received oxygen at the White House on Friday before being transferred to the military hospital.
Conley said Trump’s symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion, “were getting better” and that the president had been fever-free for the past 24 hours.
“He’s in a really good mood,” said another doctor, Sean Dooley.
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk for serious complications from the virus that infected more than 7 million and killed more than 200,000 people in the United States.
White House officials, including Meadows, had insisted Friday that Trump had only “mild symptoms.”
“President Trump has mild symptoms and has been working all day,” said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, adding that Trump had only been sent to Walter Reed as a precautionary measure.
In a note posted Friday night, Conley said Trump had been treated in hospital with remdesivir, an antiviral drug, after taking another experimental drug at the White House.
Conley declined to say when Trump was last tested before the infection was confirmed Thursday.
He initially suggested that Trump had been diagnosed 72 hours ago, but later clarified that he was tested only on Thursday afternoon, after White House aide Hope Hicks was confirmed positive and Trump gave “clinical indications. “not specified by physician.
The White House said Trump is expected to stay in the hospital for “a few days” and will continue to work from the hospital’s presidential suite.
