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Trump set to go home to a White House hard hit by coronavirus

Published 10/05/2020, 12:05 AM
Updated 10/05/2020, 05:46 PM
© Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump gives thumbs up to supporters outside of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

© Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump gives thumbs up to supporters outside of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

By Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he would leave the hospital on Monday where he has been treated for COVID-19, returning to a White House hit by a wave of infections and a campaign further shadowed by the pandemic four weeks before Election Day.

Trump was admitted to a military hospital outside Washington on Friday after being diagnosed with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

"I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!" he said on Twitter.

Trump, 74, has not had a fever in more than 72 hours and his oxygen levels are normal, his medical team said in a briefing in front of the hospital. The doctors declined, however, to discuss any potential toll the disease could have on the president's lungs or disclose when Trump last tested negative for the coronavirus.

The team added that the president had received supplemental oxygen twice in recent days.

"He may not entirely be out of the woods yet," Dr. Sean. P. Conley, the White House physician, told reporters. He added, however, that the president would be surrounded by world-class medical care around the clock at the White House.

Conley said doctors were in "unchartered territory" because Trump had received certain therapies so early in the course of the illness.

The severity of Trump's illness has been the subject of intense speculation in the past three days, with some medical experts noting that, as an overweight, elderly man, he was in a category more likely to develop severe complications or die from the disease.

Doctors also have been treating him with a steroid, dexmethasone, that is normally used only in the most severe cases.

Trump has frequently downplayed the threat of the pandemic, which has infected 7.4 million people in the United States and killed more than 209,000. In recent days, he released a series of videos to reassure the public he is recovering from COVID-19.

He was reluctant to go to the hospital last week and is eager to get out, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier on Monday.

U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hoped Trump's decision to return to the White House was not politically motivated and she expressed concern that he could become a "long hauler," a term that refers to those who suffer COVID-19 complications over an extended period.

Trump's medical team said he had not placed any pressure on the doctors treating him.

Even when discharged, Trump will need to continue treatment as he is still undergoing a five-day course of an intravenous antiviral drug, remdesivir, and will have to isolate himself for a certain period of time.

The coronavirus outbreak around Trump widened on Monday when White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said she had tested positive for the virus.

McEnany, who is at the forefront of the White House's often combative dealings with the media, held a briefing for reporters on Thursday in which she did not wear a face mask.

Chad Gilmartin and Karoline Leavitt, who work in the White House's press office, also have tested positive, a source confirmed to Reuters.

TRAILING IN POLLS

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed the Republican Trump trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden, 77, nationally by 10 percentage points. About 65% of Americans said Trump would not have been infected had he taken the virus more seriously.

Trump has repeatedly flouted social-distancing guidelines meant to curb its spread. He also mocked Biden at last Tuesday's presidential debate for wearing a mask at events, even when he is far from other people.

Biden, who has tested negative for the disease several times since the debate, said on Monday he was willing to participate in next week's scheduled presidential debate if health experts deemed it safe.

A return to the White House might help Trump project a sense of normalcy in his bid to win re-election on Nov. 3. Before falling ill, he had tried to pivot the campaign toward the U.S. economic recovery and the upcoming confirmation hearings for his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

But the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the White House as well as in Congress - three Republican senators have tested positive for the virus in the past week - threatens to draw further attention to Trump's pandemic response.

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife tested negative again for COVID-19 on Monday, an administration official said. Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, tested negative on Monday, an administration official said.

Pence is scheduled to debate Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who both work at the White House, also tested negative for the virus, Ivanka Trump's spokeswoman said. The president's wife, Melania, tested positive last week.

© Reuters. Doctors hold news conference about U.S. President Trump's health outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland

Major U.S. stock markets closed sharply higher on Monday ahead of Trump's departure from the hospital and amid signs of progress with a new fiscal stimulus bill in Congress. Wall Street's main indexes slumped on Friday after Trump's COVID-19 announcement.

Latest comments

Sad that one of the most immoral, deceitful people you have probably ever known is the one getting the kind of medical treatment he gets to avert the harshness of this disease at our expense.. while humdreds of thousands of decent people have died.... heck, give anyone a team of doctors and latest treatments and they would be fine too.. just cant believe what a *******this pres is.. doesnt even care about the staff around him and their health.. loser L ..
Trump is better for US. Biden is better for China.
The FACT is that 85%+ of the deaths attributed to the Chinese virus were in very old people with co-morbidities. These same people would have very likely died had they caught the flu. The ONLY difference is that this Chinese virus is more contagious than the flu & often scars the lungs. That's all. End of story.
"We have developed, under the Trump Administration" this guy unbelievable. He was more impudent only when he sent people federal money as his own.
Imagine believing Trump was cured in 3 days.
Trump cannot return to office before 14 days and he is being irresponsible not trying to get well before Nov 3 and until he hands over the White House to Biden. Oh, Trump’s a goner fer sure....
A Chinese comment on Trump!
 yep. So easy to spot the fakes living with ma & ba in Beijing.
How did Trump like the UV light tube up his buttocks?
Is that how you get a tan, Tan.
why dont they give him hydroxychloroquine they've given everything else what happened to him hyping that up guess they forgot already
They gave him Regeneron. Different drugs are effective in different stages of the virus and the patient.
They gave him Regeneron. Different drugs are effective in different stages of the virus and the patient.
He was taking it as a prophylactic. Maybe that’s why he only has a mild case.
200,000 deaths in the US. Can we please stop winning.
only 6k from covid NOT 200k..the CDC announced this last month. People just hear what they want to hear.
Trump is obese....lol try again
  CDC is tool of trumpy...fake news lol
Who cares about health status of trumpy...the world will not end, neither will the US nor global/US stock markets...all that drama is ridiculous and unnecessary.
Big government hiding the fact trump died so they can still win election
liberal media making up conspiracy theories ahead of the elections. they should be cancelled like infowars
Publicity stunt, fake news, cover up for botched debate, muzzle on negative ads and excuse to cancel next debate.
fake virus
His condition was serious. The longer he stays in hospital, the more damage in polls he will get. He wants to leave asap
rubbish news no truth at all!Do you think just few days wouldn't infection people?
fake sick lol
Sure, expose others to the virus.  Just goes to show you the man is s elfish, and could care less about others.  How anyone can't see reality for what it is, is rid iculous.  Cut him more slack then.  But like the tax cuts made the rich, like him, richer, this just goes to show you the truth.  Judge by actions, not words.  The guy made fun of Biden, saying he wears a really big mask, and his actions show a guy who i gnores precautions--which exemplifies who he is.
Donald Trump and his supporters win everything they have to win to lead America
Except the vote
Lets all vote on the fakedead president
The title says, everything is very bad but good.
Why did Joe Bidens family get tons and tons of cash from China & Ukraine?
the most contradictory misleading title I've seen yet trying to cast doubts about Trump.
heck yea covid is on it's way out. markets gunna be looking up :)
'..As an overweight, elderly man, Trump is in a category that is more likely to develop severe complications or die from the disease..' -- Wow, Trump was playing with fire and now he is getting burned. Serves him right since he put a lot of American lives 6 feet under with his ignorance and willfully conning the American people with his lies and misinformation. He better show on the way out whether he still cares for America's future and do some real good in the 2.5 months after the election. It's the best way for voters to see what they would have gotten into with Trump if he had stayed on. That's the beauty of the future: when Trump goes we will see whether he is going to handle the final 2.5 months of his presidency better or the same as he treated the final question of the recent debate where he completely ignored the question and proceeded to incite his supporters to commit crimes against the state by walking into polling stations to observe.
He will be fine, don't *****yourself on this.
Docs, pharma cant let US pres die from covid. They tried the unapproved regeneron drug. That says it all.
UNCLEAR .. Get used to it, it's NOT gonna change. Unclear is the best diagnosis COVID will cough up for you. If you wanna know all the roller coaster you're gonna get with COVID.. look no further than the fbk group called 'survivor corps' or 'covid survivor corps'. Yep, Trump is now officially a sicko, err one of those his family never wanted to be. Good Luck. He'll get sick all of a sudden with covid deja vue and get scared but it's just what covid does with you .. Have fun donnie
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