The Latest on Trump’s COVID Diagnosis

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On Thursday morning, news broke that President Trump’s senior counselor, Hope Hicks, tested positive for COVID-19. Soon after, President Trump announced that he and the First Lady had tested positive for COVID-19 as well. The virus has swept through his staff and sent Trump to the hospital for about three days. Here’s the latest on the president’s diagnosis and treatment. 

How did Trump get COVID?

Hicks traveled with the president to the first presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday. She also traveled with him to a Minnesota rally and a Rose Garden event. President Trump said he believed that Hicks caught COVID from personal interactions when greeting and meeting military and law enforcement members present at these events. He also said that these event attendees kept wanting to hug him and his team and that “things happen.” 

Not long after these events, Hicks began showing symptoms and got tested. Shortly after Hicks’ symptoms appeared, Trump became symptomatic too. A day later, Trump was transported to Walter Reed Medical Center by helicopter.

When did Trump test positive?

At 12:54 AM on Friday, President Trump tweeted that he and the First Lady had tested positive for COVID-19. According to an unnamed Trump advisor, the president had trouble breathing and his condition seemed “serious.” Later that day, the president was transported to Walter Reed Medical Center by the Marine One helicopter. 

On Thursday, the doctors at Walter Reed Medical Center administered an experimental Regeneron treatment to the president. Trump’s doctors mixed this treatment, which combines two monoclonal antibodies, with dexamethasone, a high-dose steroid reserved for patients with severe COVID-19 who require supplemental oxygen. Trump underwent these treatments alongside a five-day treatment course of the much-discussed drug remdesivir.

Despite issuing several contradicting statements, doctors disclosed that President Trump received supplemental oxygen. Additionally, a doctor at Walter Reed Medical refused to reveal the date of the president’s last negative COVID test before his positive test last week.

On Sunday afternoon, despite Trump only spending a couple of days in the hospital, Secret Service personnel drove the president around in a hermetically-sealed black Chevy Suburban to wave at supporters. The commander-in-chief wore a mask in the SUV shortly after tweeting a video in which he promised a “little surprise visit” to the crowd. 

Multiple Secret Service agents have been concerned about the president’s dismissal of the health risks they face when traveling with him in public. One unnamed agent said, “He’s not even pretending to care now.” A current Secret Service agent who works with the president said that the publicity stunt should have never happened. This agent further stated, “We are not disposable.”

What is Trump’s current condition?

On Monday night, President Trump was released from the hospital and returned to the White House. He ripped off his face mask on a live broadcast and told Americans to put aside the coronavirus risks.

Trump has continued to boast about his recovery and downplay the severity of COVID-19, which has now killed more than 210,000 people in the United States. Yesterday, Trump said that he currently feels better than he did twenty years ago, and some people suspect he may be feeling euphoric due to his COVID-19 medicine

How does this affect the 2020 election?

Currently, presidential candidate Biden has an approximately nine-point lead on President Trump. FiveThirtyEight poll averages have Biden at an 8.9-point lead, RealClear Politics has Biden at a nine-point lead, and NBC News projects Biden at a 9.3-point lead.

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