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WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) – United States President Donald Trump remains in a US military hospital outside Washington after contracting the coronavirus, as his doctor said Friday night (October 2) that the president was being treated with the antiviral drug Remdesivir and did not need oxygen.
As the day progressed, more and more prominent people in political circles around Trump tested positive for the virus. Among them are his campaign manager, Mr. Bill Stepien, his former counselor, Ms. Kellyanne Conway, and two Republican senators.
In a tweet, Trump thanked Americans for their good wishes. “I’m doing fine I think! Thank you all. LOVE !!!” he said.
He also spoke in a video that he tweeted, “We’re going to make sure things work out.”
The White House said his symptoms were mild and that he would continue to work from a suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, but his hospitalization raised fears that his condition was more serious.
The fact that Trump, who distrusts doctors, agreed to go to Walter Reed is a sign of concern about his condition, several people familiar with the matter said.
Inside the White House, several aides said they had received no more information about Trump’s condition than the public.
Earlier, White House physician Sean Conley issued a statement saying that Trump had been treated with a “cocktail of antibodies” from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Regeneron shares soared in recent trading, rising more than 3 percent after the market closed in New York.
The company’s experimental treatment for Covid-19 has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but Regeneron confirmed in a statement that it had provided a single dose of the drug for Trump’s use after receiving a request for “compassionate use. “from The President’s Doctors.
There will be no transfer of power from Trump to Vice President Mike Pence while the president is in the hospital, said White House spokesman Judd Deere.
The helicopter flight to Walter Reed was the most dramatic moment in a fast-paced day in Washington sparked by the president’s disclosure of his illness just a month before Election Day.
While the Trump campaign was scrapping most of its planned events, the president’s Democratic challenger, Mr. Joe Biden, was campaigning in the battlefield state of Michigan, where he delivered a speech while wearing a face mask.
Biden, who participated in a chaotic debate with Trump on Tuesday, expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery for both Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive for the coronavirus, and said the diagnosis was an “invigorating reminder.” . take the disease seriously.
A new anxiety about the virus continued to reverberate through Friday night. Stepien, who was promoted to lead the campaign this summer to help revive Trump’s re-election bid, has been infected, a campaign spokesman said.
Conway, who led the Trump campaign in 2016 before joining the administration, said he had tested positive.
“My symptoms are mild (mild cough) and I feel fine. I began a quarantine process in consultation with the doctors,” Ms. Conway, who left the White House in August, wrote on Twitter.
The two Republican senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina said they, too, had tested positive.
Both are on the Judiciary Committee, which is preparing for hearings on Trump’s nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Senators and Ms. Conway attended the Rose Garden ceremony last Saturday in which Trump announced the selection of Ms. Barrett.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, who said she had tested negative, insisted that confirmation hearings would begin as scheduled on October 12, but Democrats expressed alarm that Republicans were not yet taking enough precautions against Covid-19 on Capitol Hill.
On Friday night, several senior officials gathered outside to fire the president, wearing masks.
Trump and the Marine who greeted him as he boarded Marine One also wore masks.
Face covering was not common in the White House before Friday.
“Out of great caution, and on the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.
His statement was not issued until after the financial markets in the United States closed.
The drug Trump received at Walter Reed, Remdesivir, has been licensed to fight the virus in several countries.
It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 1 for emergency use after research showed the drug, made by Gilead Sciences, helped hospitalized patients recover from Covid-19 more quickly. than standard care alone.
Trump and the First Lady had been in isolation in the White House since their diagnosis, which they announced after Bloomberg News reported that one of their closest aides, Ms. Hope Hicks, had tested positive for coronavirus infection.
Trump learned of Ms. Hicks’ positive test Thursday morning, but continued with his planned schedule for the day, including a fundraiser at his Bedminster, NJ golf resort that raised $ 5 million. (S $ 6.8 million) for his campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump and Ms. Hicks had been in close contact in the days leading up to her diagnosis. She traveled with him to the debate in Cleveland on Tuesday and to campaign events in Minnesota on Wednesday.
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