Trump will leave Walter Reed TONIGHT and says ‘don’t be afraid of Covid’ just 72 hours after he was rushed to hospital
DONALD Trump confirmed he will be leaving hospital in Maryland – just 72 hours after he was admitted with Covid-19 as medics warn he’s “not out of the woods yet.”
On Monday, Trump confirmed that he would be discharged after top aides and his medical team said he was responding well to the coronavirus treatment.
Follow our US election 2020 live blog for the latest news & updates
“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good!” he wrote. “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!”
During Monday’s press briefing, White House Physician Dr Sean Conley said Trump “met or exceeded” all standard hospital discharge criteria – but added that the president is “not out of the woods yet.”
“We send patients homes with medications all the time,” Conley said, as it emerged that Trump had no fever in 72 hours. “He probably met his discharge requirements yesterday.”
A fourth dose of remdesivir is to be administered today, before Trump leaves the hospital, said Dr Brian Garibaldi – another member of his medical team – with a fifth dosage being administered tomorrow.
But Conley declined to say when the president’s last negative test was, telling reporters “I don’t want to go backwards.”
Earlier today, Trump‘s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said he “continued to improve overnight and is ready to get back to a normal working schedule,” reported Fox News’ John Roberts.
Before the 74-year-old president confirmed that he would be heading home, reports indicated that he was “bored” and wanted to be discharged from Walter Reed after being airlifted there last Friday.
Yesterday, he stunned his supporters by briefly leaving the hospital in a surprise drive-by – a move he was forced to defend on Twitter.
Experts slammed his decision to leave the medical facility – but Trump said he would have been criticized if he didn’t wave to his supporters from the black bulletproof SUV on Sunday.
“[T]he Media is upset because I got into a secure vehicle to say thank you to the many fans and supporters who were standing outside of the hospital for many hours, and even days, to pay their respect to their President,” he tweeted.
“If I didn’t do it, [the] Media would say RUDE!!!”
Likewise, Conley defended the move today, telling reporters today that “the president has been surrounded by medical and security staff for days wearing full PPE.”
“Yesterday the U.S. Secret Service agents were in that same level of PPE,” he said.
Ahead of his release today, Dr Brian Garibaldi noted on Sunday that the president “has been up and around” and said their “plan today is to have him eat and drink, be up out of bed.”
The president and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday.
On Sunday, he was driven past legions of his loyal fans in a black car as they waved flags and banners and screamed “we love you.”
The Secret Service agents riding with Trump appeared to be wearing medical-grade masks, face shields and gowns over their clothes.
However, the president’s drive-by was slammed by one medic for “risking lives for political theater.”
Dr James Phillips called the hospital motorcade “insanity,” accusing the president of risking the lives of Secret Service members and warning that everyone involved “must quarantine.”
On Friday, Trump was rushed via helicopter to the medical center near Washington DC after he was struck down with coronavirus symptoms – putting the US election in jeopardy with just weeks to go.
The president and the First Lady Melania Trump were diagnosed with coronavirus last Thursday after Trump’s top advisor Hope Hicks contracted the disease.
Three days later, Trump has been active on social media while Melania says she is “feeling good.”
On Sunday, Conley confirmed Trump experienced two drops in oxygen saturation levels, a high fever, and was on supplemental oxygen for roughly one hour Saturday.
But he refuted Meadows’ statements the previous day that Trump’s condition was “critical,” saying the comments were “misconstrued.”
Meanwhile, the virus has been rapidly spreading in GOP circles with White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announcing her positive test result on Monday.
“No reporters, producers, or members of the press are listed as close contacts by the White House Medical Unit,” McEnany – who had “no symptoms” – said.
Most read in News
The press secretary added she “definitely had no knowledge” that Hicks tested positive last week before McEnany addressed the press briefing room on Thursday.
On Sunday – before revealing her diagnosis from Monday – McEnany spoke to reporters without a mask on.
Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden have so far tested negative for the virus.
