JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, he tweeted out late Friday night: “Going well, I think!” seeming to be in good spirits.
The president has been admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center, and the White House chief of staff said Saturday morning that the next 48 hours “will be critical” in his care.
Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE. With their help, I am feeling well!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020
Dr. Mohammed Reza, a local infectious disease specialist, said it is good news that doctors said Saturday the president so far is experiencing “mild” symptoms. But Reza said in these beginning days following his diagnosis, symptoms could progress.
“Mild symptoms is just kind of the beginning of it,” Reza said. “From what we know, he’s very early on in his infectious process, so I hope it stays mild and doesn’t go any further.”
Reza said it is wise that Trump was taken to the hospital so doctors can keep a close eye on him in this very crucial time period.
Trump’s medical team held a news conference Saturday and said he’s being treated with the therapeutic remdesivir.
Reza said remdesivir, an antiviral medication, is usually but not always used on patients who have decreased oxygen levels and need supplemental oxygen. One of Trump’s physicians said Saturday the president is not on oxygen but would not say if he had been given oxygen at any point during treatment.
“This is not a cure drug. This is not a silver bullet that’s going to cure you if you had COVID-19,” Reza said. “What it did do is decrease the medium time of recovery from 15 days to 11 days. So it wasn’t that everybody that got it survived and did just fine and were able to go back to their normal life.”
One of the president’s doctors said Trump is on a five-day course of remdesivir meant to help COVID-19 patients recover faster.
The White House said the president will stay at the hospital for “a few days” and will continue to work from the hospital’s presidential suite.
With the election just one month away, the president’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is monitoring his health closely. His campaign has pulled negative ads as Biden called the president’s diagnosis a “bracing reminder” to take the virus seriously.