Clinton treated for infection
CNN reports his illness is sepsis, not related to COVID
Former president Bill Clinton will remain hospitalized Friday night as he recovers from an infection, his spokesman said.
Clinton, 75, was admitted to the University of California at Irvine Medical Center on Tuesday “to receive treatment for a noncovid-related infection,” his spokesman, Angel Ureña, said in a statement.
“All health indicators are trending in the right direction, including his white blood count which has decreased significantly,” Ureña said Friday. “In order to receive further IV antibiotics, he will remain in the hospital overnight.”
Ureña added that Clinton continued to be “in excellent spirits” and was grateful for his care and for the well wishes.
Clinton was in California earlier in the week for an event related to his nonprofit Clinton Foundation and was taken to the hospital after reporting that he wasn’t feeling well, according to CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta.
The issue was not related to the coronavirus or to his heart, Gupta reported after interviews with Clinton’s doctors, but to “a blood infection sometimes known as sepsis.” Clinton underwent a heart bypass surgery in 2004 and had stents placed in 2010.
President Joe Biden, during a visit to a Connecticut child-care center
Friday, said he had been “exchanging calls” on the situation and that Clinton seemed “to be really doing well.”
Biden spoke with Clinton by phone Friday, according to deputy White House press secretary Karine Jean-pierre, and told reporters Friday evening that he thought Clinton would be leaving the hospital “shortly.”
“He’s doing fine. He really is,” Biden sai. “He’s not in any serious condition.”
Clinton’s doctors, Alpesh Amin and Lisa Bardack, issued a joint statement Thursday night saying Clinton was responding well to treatment for his infection.
“He was admitted to the hospital for close monitoring and administered IV antibiotics and fluids. He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring,” they said.