On Thursday, President Donald Trump said he’d tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday he was flown to Walter Reed Medical Center out of …
On Thursday, President Donald Trump said he’d tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday he was flown to Walter Reed Medical Center out of what the White House called “an abundance of caution.” And on Saturday, the state of the president’s health remained uncertain: White House physician Sean Conley said Trump was “doing very well.” But White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reportedly said the president’s vitals had been “very concerning.” Trump’s symptoms were resolving and improving and he wasn’t on oxygen and wasn’t having difficulty breathing or walking, Conley’s team said during a Saturday press conference. But the team wouldn’t clarify whether Trump had received any supplemental oxygen since testing positive. And both The New York Times and The Washington Post reported that Meadows said the next 48 hours will be critical. Trump’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, Meadows said after the press conference, according to both news outlets, and he added that “we’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” The Times also reported that anonymous sources said Trump had trouble breathing on Friday and had been given supplemental oxygen before being moved to Walter Reed. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the Times and Post reports. A tweet Saturday had Trump thanking the staff at Walter Reed and saying that with their help he was “feeling well.” A multidisciplinary medical team is engaged in “state of the art monitoring” of the president and looking for any evidence of complications from the coronavirus or from therapies being used to treat Trump, Conley’s team said during its press conference. The team said Trump had received a first dose of the experimental drug remdesivir on Friday evening and that its plan is to continue a five-day course of that treatment. Trump, who’d had a fever, a cough and congestion, will stay at the medical center until the team decides it’s safe for him to return to the White House, the doctors said Saturday, declining to give a hard date on when the president will be discharged. The team said days seven to 10 of COVID infections, the inflammatory phase, can be a concern and that the doctors will proceed carefully. As of Saturday morning, Trump had been fever free for over 24 hours, the team said, adding that it remains “cautiously optimistic.” First lady Melania Trump, also infected, is doing well and convalescing at home, the doctors said. On Friday, just after arriving at the hospital, Trump tweeted a video filmed in the White House, thanking people for their support. “I’m going to Walter Reed Hospital, I think I’m doing very well but we’re going to make sure that things work out,” he said in the video. “The first lady is doing very well.” Later he sent a short tweet saying things were “Going welI, I think!” Trump tweeted the news about his test results Thursday night, as did the first lady. “We are feeling good and I have postponed all upcoming engagements,” she wrote. Earlier in the evening, the president,74, revealed that he and the first lady,50, had entered quarantine after learning that top White House aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for the coronavirus.
