Trump returns to the White House though not out of danger from COVID-19
U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday from a three-day hospital stay for treatment of COVID-19 despite warnings from his doctors that he is "not out of the woods".
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Military Hospital last Friday after experiencing symptoms such as fatigue and fever, but this Monday before returning to the White House he said on Twitter: "Feeling really good!"Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life".
Trump's comment was controversial when declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear a virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.
He also took credit for effective treatments for COVID-19. "We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!"
The president thus closed a weekend that many have compared to one of his TV "shows" which included a ride in a van this Sunday to greet the dozens of sympathizers crowded outside the hospital to show their support.
On Monday, after announcing on Twitter that he was leaving the hospital, the president walked out of the military hospital wearing a mask and greeted the cameras by raising his fist and thumb, two of his characteristic gestures.
He then boarded the presidential helicopter Marine One, which in a short flight of just over ten minutes took him back to the White House, where he will have prestigious medical personnel at his disposal 24 hours a day.
Once in the White House, Trump gingerly climbed the South Portico steps, removed his mask, posed for photos and greeted the departure of Marine One. Seconds later, the president entered the building without wearing a face covering.
Although Trump also announced on Twitter “Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!!” his personal physician, Sean Conley, acknowledged that he is "not out of the woods" and that "we're in a bit of uncharted territory when it comes to a patient that received the therapies he has so early in the course."
The president is in fact one of the first known patients of COVID-19 to be given a combination of powerful treatments such as the experimental antibody cocktail from the pharmaceutical company Regeneron that he received on Friday, the antiviral Remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone.
Dexamethasone is usually given in severe cases of COVID-19, and many doctors warn against administering it in early stages of the disease, such as in Trump.
Conley said doctors will be monitoring Trump to see when it is free of virus that could spread, something that usually happens "within ten days, although there is a possibility that it could be earlier or later," he said.
“We're looking to this weekend,” Dr. Conley said. “If we can get through to Monday, with him remaining the same or improving better yet, then we will all take that final deep sigh of relief.”
Conley acknowledged that the medical consensus is that COVID-19 patients are especially vulnerable for a period of seven to ten days after they register the first symptoms, and that Trump has not yet reached that point, but said he is "cautiously optimistic" that all will go well.
The President and Republican candidate for re-election is anxious to return to his massive campaigning events as with 28 days to go before the presidential elections that will pit him against the Democratic candidate, Joe Bien, the polls are more unfavourable than ever.
Marked on the calendar is the second presidential debate with Biden, scheduled in principle for October 15 in Miami and now in doubt.
Trump will have to face this sprint with the White House hit by the pandemic with more than a dozen positives in recent days, including the first lady, Melania Trump, the presidential spokesperson, Kayleigh McEnany, or the head of his election campaign, Bill Stepien.