Trump says real test ahead in his Covid-19 fight ‘ ’
Conflicting accounts from White House about US president ’ s condition
President Donald Trump told Americans from his hospital room that the next few days would be the “real test” of his treatment for Covid-19, after a series of contradictory messages from the White House caused widespread confusion about his condition.
In a four-minute video posted on Twitter on Saturday from his hospital suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre a tired-looking Trump said he was feeling “much better”.
“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,” Trump, 74, said, seated in front of an American flag and wearing a jacket and open-necked shirt.
The remarks came hours after differing assessments of his health from administration officials left it unclear how ill the president had become since testing positive for the coronavirus on Thursday night, a matter of enormous public concern.
A White House team of doctors said on Saturday morning Trump ’ s condition was improving and that he was already talking about returning to the White House. One doctor said Trump told them: “I feel like I could walk out of here today.”
Within minutes, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows gave reporters a less rosy assessment: “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”
Meadows, whose initial comments were delivered on condition he not be identified, altered his tone hours later, saying Trump was doing “very well ” and “doctors are very pleased with his vital signs”.
A Trump adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity said the president had not been happy to learn of Meadows’ initial remarks.
Administration officials said Trump would stay in hospital for several days.
White House health practitioner Dr Sean P Conley said on Saturday that Trump had not had trouble breathing and was not given oxygen at Walter Reed, contrary to reports from other sources.
He declined to give a timetable for Trump’s possible release and on Saturday evening said the president was “not yet out of the woods”, but his team remained cautiously optimistic. The diagnosis was the latest setback for Trump, who is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls ahead of the November 3 presidential election.
Trump ’ s campaign announced “Operation MAGA,” based on his slogan “Make America Great Again,” which will see high-profile allies including vice-president Mike Pence and Trump’s elder sons, Donald Jr and Eric, take over inperson campaigning this week.
Biden, who tested negative on Friday, said he hoped the Trumps made a full recovery.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the pandemic, even as it has killed more than 209,000 Americans and hammered the US economy.
Conley said Trump had received the first two doses of a five-day course of Remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral drug shown to shorten hospital stays.
He was also taking an experimental treatment, REGNCOV2, along with zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and aspirin, Conley said.