WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump left Walter Reed Medical Center just after 6:30 p.m. ET on Monday, hours after the medical team treating him for the coronavirus cautioned that he is “not out of the woods yet.”
He returned to the White House shortly before 7 p.m., where he gave a thumbs up before walking inside.
Trump walked out of Walter Reed to an SUV and pumped his fist to the White House reporters, but he did not say anything. The SUV took Trump to Marine One, which will flew him back to the White House.
Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, told reporters earlier Monday that Trump will be “surrounded by world-class medical care, 24/7” while at the White House.
Trump is being treated with dexamethasone, a powerful steroid recommended for use to treat severe cases of COVID-19. The drug can carry serious psychological side effects, but Conley said the president has not exhibited any of them.
Meanwhile, the outbreak at the White House continued as more staff members tested positive. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday she had tested positive for COVID-19, along with one of her deputies.
Trump tweeted a one-minute long video from the White House balcony, saying he “learned so much about coronavirus,” and believes that he is possibly immune to the disease.
“One thing that’s for certain: Don’t let it dominate you,” he said of COVID-19. “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines, all developed recently. And you’re going to beat it.”
Trump said he “didn’t feel so good,” and then two days ago, he felt better than he did 20 years ago.
“We’re going back, we’re going back to work,” Trump said. “We’re going to be out front. As your leader, I had to do that. I knew there’s danger to it, but I had to do it. I stood out front, and led. Nobody’s that’s a leader would not do what I did. And I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger, but that’s OK.”
Trump speculated “now I’m better, maybe I’m immune, I don’t know.” He also said “the vaccines are coming momentarily.” However, the director of the Centers for Disease Control said there won’t be a vaccine widely available until mid-2021.
The White House has said Trump first tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct 1, two days after the presidential debate.
At the briefing outside Walter Reed, Conley and the rest of the president’s medical team said Trump has “continued to improve” and “met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria,” allowing him to return to the White House after just three days in the hospital.
“We try to get patients out of the hospital as quickly as it is safe and reasonable,” Conley said. “Every day that a patient stays in the hospital unnecessarily is a risk to themselves.”
The doctors said the president was not complaining of any respiratory issues and last had a fever more than 72 hours ago. Trump will receive the fourth of five doses of the drug remdesivir before leaving Walter Reed later Monday, and continues to be treated with dexamethasone, a steroid.
“We send patients home with medicines all the time,” Conley said. “He’s returning to a facility, the White House medical unit, that’s staffed 24/7, top-notch physicians, nurses, PAs, logisticians.” — NNN-AGENCIES
