WHITE HOUSE
Trump Returns to White House Following Rapid Improvement
President has continued to improve and has ‘met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria,’ White House doctor said
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
President Donald Trump checked out of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the evening on Oct. 5 after spending four days at the hospital due to testing positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
“Feeling really good!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “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!”
The president’s physician, Sean Conley, told reporters outside the hospital in the afternoon that Trump has continued to improve and has “met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria.” The medical team expressed cautious optimism and will continue to monitor the president’s vitals at the White House.
“He’s back,” Conley said.
By the afternoon on Oct. 5, Trump had been fever-free for 72 hours and had normal blood oxygen levels and breathing. The doctors
administered another dose of remdesivir before the president left for the White House. Trump is scheduled to receive the fifth and final dose at the White House in the evening on Oct. 6.
Feeling really good!
President Donald Trump, in a tweet
President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up upon returning to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 05, 2020. SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
White House physician Sean Conley (C) answers questions on Oct. 5, 2020.
Trump Returns to White House Following Rapid Improvement
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“Though he may not be entirely out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all of our evaluations, and most importantly his clinical status, support the president’s safe return home where he’ll be surrounded by world- class medical care 24/7,” Conley said.
In addition to First Lady Melania Trump, at least 11 other people within Trump’s orbit have tested positive for the CCP virus in recent days, including several who attended events with the president in the days leading up to his diagnosis.
The president had no complaints about his breathing and continued to work full time on Oct. 5, according to Dr. Sean Dooley, a pulmonologist at Walter Reed.
The president is still taking dexamethasone, according to Dr. Brian Thomas Garibaldi, the director of the Biocontainment Unit at Johns Hopkins. Dexamethasone is a steroid that is recommended for patients who require supplemental oxygen but aren’t on a ventilator. Conley explained that the team decided to proactively administer the drug early to address two dips in the president’s blood oxygen level, instead of taking the wait-and-see route. Trump received supplemental oxygen both times and recovered immediately, Conley said. The president wasn’t short of breath and didn’t need the oxygen, the doctor added. He declined to discuss the results of the president’s lung scans.
The president had no complaints about his breathing and continued to work full time.
Two of the doctors on the team have been working with local laboratories to inform the White House about the president’s ability to pass the virus on to others. The doctors at Walter Reed have also been strategizing how to ensure the president’s safe return home.
“We’ve worked with our infectious disease experts to make some recommendations for how to keep everything safe down at the White House for the president and those around him,” Conley said. “We’re looking for where he is going to be able to carry out his duties.”
The president briefly left the hospital in an armored vehicle on Oct. 4 to wave to a crowd of supporters gathered outside. He wore a mask and appeared, similarly to the videos he has released from the hospital, energetic and in good spirits. Conley told reporters that the president had already met the requirements for discharge at the time.
Conley noted that the medical team remained cautious in part because they were in uncharted territory with Trump having received the therapies he had so early after testing positive for the virus.
“ We’re looking at this weekend, 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,” he said.
Conley said the president “has been a phenomenal patient” and didn’t pressure the medical team to discharge him from the hospital ahead of schedule.
“He’s been working handin- glove with us and the team, and today it got to the point he’s holding court with those of us around him, the whole team, going over all the specifics, the testing, what the future is,” Conley said.
“We have been back and forth on what’s safe, on what’s reasonable, and he has never once pushed us to do anything that was beyond safe and reasonable practice that we all first wanted.”
REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST
President Donald Trump makes a fist as he walks out of the front doors of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after a fourth day of treatment for the CCP viru
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