U.S. President Donald Trump says he will be discharged Monday evening from the military hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19 and will return to the White House. Trump tweeted Monday, “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. … I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said earlier Monday that Trump is meeting with doctors treating him for COVID-19 to assess his progress and said the administration is “optimistic” he would be discharged from the hospital later in the day. “Spoke to the president this morning. He continued to improve overnight and is ready to get back to a normal working schedule,” Meadows told Fox News. “We are still optimistic that he will be able to return to the White House later today.” On Sunday, after tweeting a video that he is “getting great reports” from his doctors, Trump promised a little surprise for his supporters outside the hospital where he is being treated. pic.twitter.com/0Bm9W2u1x7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) President Donald Trump drives past supporters gathered outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 4, 2020.Conley, asked by a reporter why he had been evasive on the question of whether Trump had required supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday — which the president did for about an hour — replied he was trying “to reflect the upbeat attitude of the team.” Conley, an osteopath and a commander in the U.S. Navy, explained that he did not “want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction, and in doing so, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true.” That medical team, during a 10-minute briefing on Sunday outside the front steps of Walter Reed, explained that the president is now taking dexamethasone, a steroid that is typically not administered in mild or moderate cases of the coronavirus, along with a five-day course of remdesivir, an antiviral medication. Dr. Sean Dooley, an Army colonel and pulmonologist, told reporters that the president’s vital signs were stable on Sunday morning and the patient was walking around, not complaining of shortness of breath or experiencing any other respiratory symptoms. Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, October 5, 2020.“If he continues to look and feel as well as he does today, our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the White House, where he can continue his treatment course,” announced Dr. Brian Garibaldi, a civilian specialist in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Some key questions remain, such as whether the president has suffered any lung damage. Doctors in their responses Sunday declined to go beyond saying there have been the “expected findings” with their patient, who is a 74-year-old overweight male. Trump on Friday had a high fever, and that — along with the brief need for supplemental oxygen — prompted his move from the White House to the hospital, according to Conley. Trump tweeted a video Saturday evening in which he said he was doing well and hoped to be back soon, acknowledging that the next few days will be the “real test.” FILE – Hope Hicks, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, walks to Air Force One to depart Washington with the president and other staff on campaign travel to Minnesota from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Sept. 30, 2020.Conley received word Thursday evening that both Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus after one of the president’s close aides, Hope Hicks, was confirmed to be ill with the infection. The president’s decision to do a drive-around for supporters Sunday evening was condemned by one attending physician at Walter Reed as irresponsible. Dr. James Phillips, who is also chief of disaster medicine at The George Washington University in Washington, tweeted that the special vehicle the president was riding in is sealed against chemical attack. “The risk of COVID-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play,” said Phillips, referring to the driver and an accompanying agent in the front seat who appeared to be wearing masks, face shields and gowns. That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.
— Dr. James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden campaigns in Miami, Florida, October 5, 2020.Sunday marked 30 days before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, said Friday he was sending “prayers for the health and safety of the first lady and the president of the United States.” Biden added that Trump’s positive test is a “bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously.” Biden’s campaign said the former vice president tested negative Friday for the coronavirus and a test on Sunday was also negative. Speaking Friday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Biden, wearing a surgical mask, called again for a national mask mandate, asserting it could save 100,000 lives in 100 days. The coronavirus has killed nearly 210,000 people in the United States and infected about 7.4 million across the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
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