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Trump Free of Covid-19 Symptoms for Over 24 Hours, Doctor Says

Trump Free of Covid-19 Symptoms for Over 24 Hours, Doctor Says

President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office on Wednesday after his doctor reported he had been free of Covid-19 symptoms for more than 24 hours.

Trump’s oxygen levels and respiratory rate are stable, White House physician Sean Conley wrote in a memorandum released Wednesday.

Trump Free of Covid-19 Symptoms for Over 24 Hours, Doctor Says

“His physical exam and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range,” Conley said in a statement that omitted several key details about the president’s condition.

Trump left the White House residence after remaining isolated there since returning late Monday from a three-day hospital stay because of the illness. His time Wednesday in the Oval Office -- where he was briefed on coronavirus stimulus talks and the latest hurricane to threaten U.S. shores -- was his first known time back in the West Wing of the complex since he came back from hospital Monday.

Conley said that Trump has been fever-free for more than four days and “has not needed nor received any supplemental oxygen since initial hospitalization.”

“He wants to speak to the American people, he will do so soon,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Brian Morgenstern told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t have an exact time or a definite way he’ll do that. As you’ve seen, there have been Twitter videos that are a pretty easy and effective way for him to get out. That’s certainly something that we’re always considering.”

The White House has declined to release several basic medical details about the president’s case. On Monday, the White House released specific measures of some of Trump’s vital signs, such as his blood oxygen level, blood pressure, temperature, heart rate and breathing rate. Wednesday’s letter from Conley did not include any of those specific details. The White House also has not confirmed whether Trump received a planned fifth and final dose of remdesivir, one of three drugs given to him to fight the virus.

“This letter didn’t add anything, I can assure you of that,” Eric Topol, director of Scripps Research Translational Institute, said of Conley’s statement. “It’s not been forthright and they’ve still not disclosed many of the truths that are still needed.”

Conley’s letter Wednesday began with: “The president this morning says “‘I feel great!’”

Trump, in samples taken Monday, had “detectable levels” of antibodies as compared with samples taken Thursday, when the president had tested positive, Conley said. Conley has previously said that he gave Trump an 8 gram dose of Regeneron’s antibody treatment on Friday. “He had the highest dose known to mankind received back on Friday,” Topol said.

In a statement, Regeneron said that, given the timing, it is “likely” that Trump’s test was detecting antibodies from their treatment, though acknowledged the test wouldn’t distinguish between those and antibodies Trump had developed on his own.

“Our early data announced last week shows that the patients most likely to benefit from this treatment have a similar profile to President Trump, in that they had undetectable antibodies at baseline (‘seronegative’) and were early in the course of disease,” the company said.

Trump has called on Americans not to fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 people in the U.S. this year. He has been eager to return to the campaign trail, as Democratic nominee Joe Biden widens his lead in the presidential race.

On Tuesday, Trump unleashed a flurry of tweets, including one that halted talks with Democrats over a stimulus bill to aid people suffering from the economic calamity brought on by the pandemic.

Another looming question is whether Trump had any lung damage or pneumonia. Conley has said that X-rays showed “some expected findings but nothing of major clinical concern,” but didn’t give specifics.

Trump is still at a stage in his illness in which a patient could be contagious, and as of Monday was still taking dexamethasone. If Trump comes off the steroid, “he may feel low energy and that kind of booster effect that he’s had will definitely wane,” Topol said. The White House has declined to say this week whether Trump continues to take the drug, even as aides try to paint a positive picture of the president’s health.

“We actually spent some time together yesterday working very hard from the residence, and I can tell you that he’s fully engaged and feeling great,” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox on Wednesday morning.

Trump, who typically avoids anything he sees as a show of weakness, is anxious to get back to normal even as he remains in an unknown stage of his fight with the virus. The crucial window in a recovery is between seven and 10 days, according to National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, who had Covid himself and was dispatched to interviews Sunday and Monday to discuss it.

For Trump, that period runs from Thursday to Sunday, if he indeed fell ill on Thursday, Oct. 1. The White House has refused to say when his last negative test was before he became ill, raising the chance that he contracted the virus earlier than believed.

The White House has not scheduled any press briefings since Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tested positive on Monday. Several of her aides have also tested positive, and many White House officials are working remotely, leaving the West Wing with far fewer people inside than is typical.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.