Confusion continued over the treatment of US President Donald Trump on Sunday when his doctors said that he could be released from the military hospital as early as Monday while the National Security Advisor said that he could stay there for “another period of time”.
The medical team treating Trump, who was tested positive for coronavirus, on Sunday said that he had experienced two episodes of blood oxygen drops during his illness but he is likely to be discharged on 5 October. Speaking at a briefing, White House physician Dr Sean Conley said, “The president experienced two episodes of blood-oxygen drops during his illness, has remained without fever since Friday morning and vital signs are stable.” Dr Brian Garibaldi, head of the Johns Hopkins Biocontainment Unit and a member of the team treating Trump, said, “The president has completed a second dose of remdesivir, and his kidney and liver functions were normal.” He further stated that Trump would be discharged to the White House as early as Monday.
“Today Trump is doing well. He is up and around. If we see that he is doing well like he is today then we can plan for discharge as early as tomorrow [Monday],” Dr Garibaldi added.
Earlier, however NSA Robert O’Brien told a CBS TV programme that although Trump feels “very well” and wants to return to the White House, “I think he’s going to stay at Walter Reed for at least another period of time.” O’Brien, who had come down with Covid-19 and has recovered, said: “Days seven and eight are the critical days.”
With elections 30 days away, Trump’s campaign is hobbled by his illness. Vice President Mike Pence is set to debate Democratic Party’s vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday.
Her campaign has asked for a 12-ft separation between them on the stage given Pence’s likely exposure to Trump. Three Republican senators, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and Trump’s advisers, Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are among those who have come down with the virus.
Late Friday morning at the White House, Conley said, that he found Trump had a high fever and his oxygen saturation was below 94 per cent and gave him supplemental oxygen.
“Fortunately, that was really a very transient limited episode, a couple hours later, he was back up,” he said. He said that Trump’s oxygen levels, a key indicator of a Covid-19 patient’s status, did not dip into the 80s at any time.
Asked about Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows saying on Saturday that Trump’s “vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning,” Conley said that the remark was “misconstrued” and that he was only referring to the specific temporary incident on Friday morning, which he said prompted the decision to fly him by helicopter him to the hospital.
In a video made at the hospital and released on Twitter on Saturday, Trump said: “Over the next period of a few days, I guess that’s the real test. So we’ll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days.”
With agency inputs