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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s doctor said on Saturday (October 10) that the president is no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus.
In a memo, Dr. Sean Conley says Trump meets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for safely interrupting isolation and is no longer considered a risk by “currently recognized standards” of transmission.
The memo follows Trump’s first public appearance since he returned to the White House after being treated for the coronavirus. Hundreds of people gathered Saturday afternoon on the South Lawn for Trump’s speech on his support for law enforcement from a White House balcony.
READ: ‘I feel great,’ Trump tells supporters at a White House public event
Trump removed a mask moments after stepping out onto the balcony to address the crowd on the grass below, his first step back onto the public stage with just over three weeks to go on Election Day. He scoffed again at his own government’s safety recommendations within days of acknowledging he was on the brink of the “bad things” from the virus and claiming that his fight against the disease gave him a better understanding of it.
His return was brief. With visible bandages on his hands, likely from an IV injection, Trump spoke for 18 minutes, much less than at his normal rallies of more than an hour. He looked healthy, if perhaps a little hoarse, when he delivered what was, for all intents and purposes, a short version of his campaign speech despite the executive mansion setting.
With two bandages in hand, President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks from the Balcony of the Blue Room of the White House to a crowd of supporters, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Alex Brandon)
Although advertised as an official event, Trump did not offer political proposals and instead launched the usual attacks on Democrat Joe Biden while praising law enforcement before a crowd of several hundred, most of whom wore masks and few they adhered to social distancing guidelines.
“I feel great,” said Trump, who said he was grateful for her good wishes and prayers as he recovered. He then declared that the pandemic, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans, was “disappearing” even though he is still recovering from the virus.
READ: US COVID-19 Cases Hit Two-Month High, 10 States Report Record Rises
Officials organized the crowd just steps from the Rose Garden, where exactly two weeks ago the president held another large gathering to formally announce his nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. That event is now seen as a potential COVID-19 super-spreader, as more than two dozen people present contracted the virus.
President Donald Trump raises his fist before speaking from the balcony of the White House Blue Room to a crowd of supporters on October 10, 2020 (AP Photo / Alex Brandon).
Trump had hoped to hold campaign rallies this weekend, but settled for the White House event. But even though his health remained unclear, he planned to increase his travels with a rally in Florida on Monday, followed by trips to Pennsylvania and Iowa in the following days. It was unclear whether Trump posed a risk to those he would fly with on Air Force One or meet at the staging sites.
Before the speech, White House officials said they had no information to release whether the president was tested for COVID-19, meaning he made his first public appearance without the White House verifying that he is no longer contagious.
Security around the White House was tightened before the event, which was called a “peaceful protest for law and order” and was attended by predominantly Black and Latino supporters. Police and the Secret Service closed the surrounding streets to vehicles and closed Lafayette Square, the park near the White House that has long been a gathering place for public protests.
As questions about his health persist, and Democratic opponent Joe Biden intensifies his own campaign, Trump has called more often on radio and television shows to speak with conservative interviewers, hoping to make up for lost time with little else. three weeks until Election Day and millions are already voting.
Biden’s campaign said it again tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday. Biden was potentially exposed to the coronavirus during his Sept. 29 debate with Trump, who announced his positive diagnosis just 48 hours after the debate.
READ: Biden slams Trump on economy in critical Pennsylvania county
The president had not been seen in public, except in videos produced by the White House, since his return five days ago from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he received experimental treatments for the coronavirus.
On Saturday, all attendees were asked to bring masks or were provided with, and underwent temperature checks and asked to complete a short questionnaire. Some in the crowd took off their masks to listen to Trump.
Supporters of President Donald Trump demonstrate at The Ellipse, before entering the White House, where Trump held an event on the South Lawn on October 10, 2020 (Photo: AP / Jose Luis Magana).
Trump’s Monday event in Sanford, Florida, what he described as a “BIG RALLY,” was originally scheduled for October 2, the day after he tested positive. Before his event Saturday, Trump took to Twitter to share news articles about problems. with mail-in ballots in New Jersey, Ohio and Texas. Trump has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that universal vote-by-mail is riddled with widespread fraud.
Trump’s return to public activity came when Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, warned the White House again to avoid large-scale gatherings of people without masks.
He said of the Barrett event in an interview with The Associated Press: “I was not surprised to see a super broadcaster event under the circumstances.” That means “a crowded, congregated environment, no masks. Not surprising to see an outbreak.” , he said.
READ: Trump to Resume Campaign In Person Less Than 2 Weeks After Contracting COVID-19
READ: US presidential debate on October 15 will not continue, says debate committee
The District of Columbia virus restrictions prohibit outdoor gatherings of more than 50 people, although that rule has not been strictly enforced. Masks are required outdoors for most people, but the regulations don’t apply on federal land, and the Trump White House has openly circumvented them for months.
Confined to the White House while recovering, Trump spent a considerable portion of the past few days doing friendly conservative media rounds, calling Fox News host Sean Hannity Thursday night and spending two hours live with radio host Rush. Limbaugh on Friday in what his campaign called a “radio rally.”
Trump directly appealed to his loyalist base of supporters, whom he needs to go to the polls en masse, in court over his battle for re-election, his fight against the coronavirus and resuming negotiations with Democrats to pass a bill. economic stimulus.
In an interview Friday night on Fox’s Tucker Carlson show, Trump was asked if he had been retested for COVID-19. “I have been retested and I still haven’t figured out the numbers or anything. But they tested me again and I know I’m at the bottom of the scale or free, “he said.
White House officials, however, have declined to respond to when Trump last tested negative for the virus before his diagnosis or to release detailed information about lung scans taken while Trump was hospitalized.
The president’s aides insist Trump is safe to return to his normal activities, including campaigning. CDC guidelines require those infected to wait at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms, Fauci said in the AP interview. That start for Trump was October 1, according to his doctors.
Conley added that Trump showed no evidence that his disease progressed or adverse reactions to the aggressive course of therapy he received.
While reports of reinfection in COVID-19 victims are rare, the CDC recommends that even people recovering from the disease continue to wear masks, stay away, and follow other precautions. It was unclear whether Trump, who has refused to wear masks in most settings, would abide by that guidance when resuming his campaign.
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