United States President, Donald Trump who tested positive to Covid-19 on Friday 2nd October 2020, and was flown by helicopter to a medical facility where he has been receiving medical attentions, has been positive about coming out of the situation stronger.
But a source close to the president and his wife has revealed that the president’s health is not getting better as he is fatigued and also having problem breathing. – 9News Nigeria
Fatigue and trouble breathing
A Trump adviser said there is reason for concern about the President’s health.
“This is serious,” the adviser said. The adviser went on to describe Trump as very tired, very fatigued and having some trouble breathing.
A source familiar with the situation said White House officials have serious concerns about Trump’s health and a top administration official told CNN that Trump is “OK for now, but our fear is that things can change quick.”
A third source said the President’s condition is worse than first lady Melania Trump’s.
Still, there has been no transfer of power to Vice President Mike Pence, said White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah. “The President is in charge,” she said.
A White House official on Friday evening stressed there is no reason for the public to be alarmed about Trump’s condition.
Kellyanne Conway tweets she tested positive for coronavirus
The official acknowledged that Trump is dealing with some symptoms of the virus and is “fatigued.” But, according to the official, the President’s condition is not deteriorating. The official said there are plans to keep the public updated on Trump’s health over the coming days.
The President is taking the situation “very seriously,” the official added.
The White House had continued to insist the President “remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day” in the hours before he traveled to Walter Reed.
“Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” McEnany said. “President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady.”
An administration official said Pence was working from his residence at the Naval Observatory and remains in good health.
Taking Regeneron antibody cocktail
Trump has had a fever since Friday morning, a person familiar with the matter said, though an official said the fever remains consistent with the White House’s description of “mild symptoms.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Trump’s physician wrote in a memo he “remains fatigued but in good spirits.”
“He’s being evaluated by a team of experts, and together we’ll be making recommendations to the President and First Lady in regards to next best steps,” Conley wrote.
He said Trump had been administered a Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail and has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin.
The decision to give Trump an experimental monoclonal antibody cocktail illustrates how concerned the White House may be about his Covid-19 diagnosis, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst and professor at George Washington University, told CNN on Friday.
“The big news there is that he got an experimental drug. He got a drug not approved by the FDA,” said Reiner, who has treated former Vice President Dick Cheney.
The memo also said Melania Trump remains well with only a mild cough and headache, and the remainder of the first family is well and have tested negative.
The President disclosed in the early morning hours on Friday that he and the first lady had tested positive for coronavirus.
The development threw the country’s leadership in turmoil and lent new uncertainty to the unfolding presidential race.
Moments before news broke that Trump was heading to Walter Reed, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he was suspending negative advertising for the time being.
The Gang of Eight — top leaders of Congress and top lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees — have not been briefed on Trump’s health, according to two sources familiar.
The group typically gets briefed on classified intelligence and national security matters, the sources added.
Two officials from two previous administrations tell CNN that the “presidential offices” consist of a suite of rooms on the sprawling campus of Walter Reed, including a sitting room, a conference room and a hospital bedroom.
But the officials, one Democrat and one Republican, both said the explanation in McEnany’s statement stood out to them as curious. The offices are not dedicated for presidential use only, but the suite of offices is a place where presidents can go while they are on the medical campus.
Source: CNN
White House officials sought to project an air of business as usual on Friday despite President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, but aides privately expressed concern about the presidential election and showed signs of rising worry about the coronavirus.
“The business of government continues,” economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters after Trump disclosed on Twitter early in the day that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Trump flew by helicopter to Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment in the early evening. But staff members said he would continue working from a special suite there and that he had remained engaged in governing throughout the day. He did not transfer power to Vice President Mike Pence.
“We’re just trying to make sure that he takes it easy but he’s hard at work and will continue to,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox.
Trump spoke to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, McEnany said, and discussed emergency declarations and the coronavirus stimulus package with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
“His first question to me this morning was, ‘How is the economy doing, how are the stimulus talks going on Capitol Hill?,” Meadows told reporters outside the White House, adding he had spoken several times to Trump already.
Privately, some Trump advisers worried Trump’s illness could cost him the presidential election in just 31 days.
“Clearly it changes the dynamic from us being able to travel and show enormous energy and support from the rallies, which has been part of our calculation just like in 2016,” said one Trump adviser.
The president’s upcoming election events were postponed or moved online. Trump had been scheduled to hold a “Make America Great Again” rally in Florida on Friday night, two in Wisconsin on Saturday and another in Arizona on Monday.
On Friday, the sight of more White House staff than usual donning masks, including press secretary McEnany in the evening, was taken as a sign that coronavirus risks were being taken more seriously. Communications adviser Hope Hicks and first lady Melania Trump also tested positive.
Some in Washington speculated that Trump’s events on Saturday to announce Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court may have spread the virus.
Besides Trump and his wife, attendees Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chair, Mike Lee, a Republican senator, and the University of Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John Jenkins, have all tested positive for the coronavirus.
As Trump told the country that the coronavirus would “disappear,” White House officials and many Republican politicians have eschewed mask-wearing and other protocols health officials recommend to stop the spread of the coronavirus. On Saturday, Congress members and White House officials mingled with Barrett indoors and sat close in a Rose Garden ceremony, many without masks.
Deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who oversees the National Security Council, was among the earliest and most consistent mask wearers in the White House. He was previously mocked behind his back by some staffers for wearing a mask at work, one person familiar with the matter said.
NSC staffers have been ordered to wear masks in all White House common areas and to avoid unnecessary visits to the West Wing, according to an internal email on Friday.
The White House is recommending masks and distancing, an official said Friday, but they are not mandatory.
During his gaggle with press on Friday, a maskless Kudlow was asked by a reporter why he wasn’t setting a good example for the public. Kudlow responded by donning a paper surgical mask. “All right, are we good?,” Kudlow said. “I’ve put my mask on.”
-Reuters
Reporting by Steve Holland, Alex Alper, Matt Spetalnick, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Heather Timmons
Hackdra is a cyber security company that can provide smart contract auditing, pen-testing, bug bounty, blockchain, web3, DeFi, NFT, and ARM services with AI.