[ad_1]
Donald Trump is in the hospital with reportedly mild symptoms. Not much else has been heard from the White House yet. What we know and what we don’t.
Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he and the first lady were fine. To be safe, he will now go to the hospital.
Video: Tamedia
Donald Trump briefly greets reporters, then lifts his thumb as he steps out of the White House to stomp across the South Lawn toward the Marine One presidential helicopter. The President of the United States can fly nearly eight miles to the Military Hospital Walter Reed in Maryland. He is supposed to spend “a few days” there, in a hospital room specially prepared for the presidents of the United States. In addition to a bed, there are also meeting rooms and an office from which it is said that you can continue your official duties. A purely precautionary measure, his spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Friday night.
Before departure, Trump greeted the camera in the Oval Office. He thanked him for the support and says he and his wife are doing well so far. The video lasts 18 seconds and was later posted on his Twitter account.
Less than 18 hours had passed since Trump confirmed on Twitter that he and his wife had been infected with the corona virus. A message that for now raises even more questions than have been answered so far.
One can only speculate on the actual state of health of the president (for evaluation an infectologist). His spokesman had stated that Trump had developed “mild symptoms” on Friday morning. Otherwise, you are in a good mood. It was not more precise. Multiple outlets reported that Trump showed a mild fever and runny nose symptoms such as cough and runny nose on Friday. All this can only be guessed from Trump’s video message (you can find the latest developments in the Heart).
What is known about the treatment
His personal physician, Sean Conley, published a newsletter on Friday in which he outlined some steps of the treatment. Therefore, Trump was administered a single dose of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ REGN-COV2 antibody combination preparation. The agent has not yet been approved, not even for experimental applications. However, it is said to have been shown in human tests that the course of corona disease can be less dramatic.
A company representative told CNN that the drug was designed to support a patient’s immune system. The infusion went smoothly, Trump’s doctor Conley said. The president also receives zinc, vitamin D, the stomach drug famotidine, the sleep hormone melatonin, and aspirin. The bulletin does not mention the antimalarial drug hydrochloroquine. Trump had touted the expert advice as a kind of miracle cure against Covid-19 for months.
“Just a precautionary measure”: the president of the United States heads to Walter Reed Military Hospital.
Photo: Leah Millis (Reuters)
At around midnight Eastern Time, Trump’s doctor announced that Trump would be treated with the antiviral drug Remdesivir. Remdesivir has been approved in several countries to fight the virus and is believed to result in a faster recovery.
Conley said he is pleased to report that the president “was doing very well.” Trump doesn’t need extra oxygen. CNN, however, citing White House employees, reported that Trump Have breathing problems and the situation is dire.
There is currently no more official information available. Which is also due to the fact that there has been no press conference on the president’s state of health. Neither Conley nor Trump’s spokeswoman McEnany (zur Analysis on Trump’s information policy).
Where Trump might have been infected
It is also unclear where and how Trump and his wife might have been infected. Hope Hicks, a counselor and family friend, tested positive for the virus Thursday. On Wednesday, he was on the same plane with the presidential couple at an election rally in Minnesota. However, it usually takes a few days from infection to development of symptoms.
Howard Forman, a health expert at the Yale School of Public Health, therefore believes it is more likely that Donald and Melania Trump were infected last Saturday, he told the online magazine Politico. Trump had presented his candidate for the Supreme Court in the rose garden of the White House. The honored guests sat there maskless, shoulder to shoulder.
Was it a super spread event? Donald Trump speaks at the nomination ceremony for Judge Amy Coney Barrett in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Photo: Carlos Barria (Reuters)
Forman says it is conceivable that the event could turn into a super spread event in which one highly infectious participant infects many others. Apparently White House experts are trying to understand the chain of infection.
Currently at least seven participants in Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination ceremony are believed to be infected. In addition to the presidential couple and Hope Hicks, Republican Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, newly divorced Presidential Aide Kellyanne Conway, and John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, have taught at Barrett so far. Trump’s campaign leader Bill Stepien also tested positive for the corona virus. The campaign team confirmed a report in Politico magazine late Friday. Stepien received his diagnosis Friday night and had mild flu-like symptoms. You are still in control of the campaign from your home office.
Consequences for the electoral campaign and Congress
It is indisputable that Trump did not want to be surrounded by mask wearers in his environment. So far there have only been a few occasions when he himself has worn the mask in public. He had always justified it with the fact that he and his closest employees would be evaluated regularly. Apparently, that didn’t offer enough protection. Especially since it has been shown that people can be infectious before a test produces a positive result. Therefore, the mask offers the best protection against infection.
Trump’s challenger, Joe Biden, could also get infected. He caught up with Trump in a television duel on Tuesday. Biden has now tested negative for the virus twice. Eric Feigl-Ding, however, an epidemiologist and health economist with the Federation of American Scientists, tweeted on Friday: “As we know now, # COVID19 tests may be negative today and positive tomorrow.”
The infection of Senators Lee and Tillis raises the question of what will happen to Judge Barrett’s upcoming Senate nomination hearings. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will continue “at full steam” for Barrett to be confirmed. But if more of your senators were infected or even sick, the slim majority of Republicans in the Senate could be on the brink. Barrett’s nomination before the November 3 election could be in jeopardy.
Trump has to interrupt his election campaign in any case. You need to stay in isolation for up to two weeks to make sure you are no longer contagious. Provided, of course, that you are not seriously ill with Covid-19 (read how the disease affects the Electoral campaign it could affect). On Thursday, Trump had publicly declared that “the end of the pandemic is in sight.” On Friday, Trump’s campaign manager Stepien announced that all planned events with Trump or his family would be postponed or held virtually. Two major campaign appearances in the state of Wisconsin were planned for this weekend. And this despite the fact that the White House Task Force on Coronavirus has declared the state a “red zone” due to the large number of infections that exist.
Trump’s few steps toward the helicopter showed how quickly the image changed. All the people that could be seen in the television images wore masks. Trump too.
