DON’S SYMPTOMS ‘VERY CONCERNING’
Prez vital signs ‘concerning,’ sez staff chief, as mixed messages come on his condition
President Trump is not yet out of the woods in his battle against COVID-19, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Saturday.
“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” said Meadows.
“We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” he added.
Trump sought to counter that story line Saturday night by portraying himself as on the mend in a four-minute Twitter video made at his suite at Walter Reed National Medical Center.
The presidentnt said he was improving fast with the help of “miracle drugs.
“I feel much better now,” Trump said. “We’re working hard to get me all the way back.”
Still, Trump conceded that the next couple of days will be the real test of whether he can beat the virus that has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Americans.
“You don’t know what will happen,” Trump said in an even tone, setting aside his trademark bluster.
The president’s video came hours after the grim prognosis from Meadows effectively contradicted White House physician Dr. Sean Conley’s upbeat claims about Trump’s condition condition.
“The president is doing very well,” Conley said. “The team and I are extremely happy with the progress the president has made.”
The Saturday medical briefing marked the first detailed official update on Trump’s condition. But it raised as many questions as it answered.
Conley said Trump has not had a fever since Friday morning, but refused to say what his fever was.
He also insisted that he was having no trouble breathing, but dodged questions about whether Trump required oxygen to breathe at any time since his diagnosis.
On Saturday night, Trump completed a second dose of remdesivir, an anti-viral drug that researchers say speeds patients’ recovery from COVID-19, Conley said in a statement issued at 9:16 p.m.
“He remains fever-free and off supplemental oxygen with a saturation level between 96% and 98% all day,” the statement said. All day, Conley said, Trump was up and about in his suite “without difficulty. While not yet out of the woods, the team remains cautiously optimistic.”
Trunp was given supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before being airlifted to the hospital, according to sources close to the president.
Conley initially said on Saturday afternoon that Trump was “72 hours into” his diag-d nosis and had started trreatment 48 hours before Saturday morning.
The doctor later clarified that he meant to say Trump was three days into his diagnosis and two days into treatment, which would dovetail with the original White House timeline.
Adding to the confusion, Conley refused to reveal when Trump last received a negative coronavirus test. The president often claims he is tested every day.
Trump himself thanked the “amazing” staff at the military hospital: “With their help, I am feeling well!” he tweeted Saturday afternoon.
First Lady Melania Trump,
who has also tested positive, is reportedly doing much better than her husband and is recovrecovering at home at the White House. Their teenage son, Barron Trump, has so far tested negative.
Trump announced his positive diagnosis early Friday after spending the day at a fundraiser at his Bedminster, N.J. golf resort. White House aide Hope Hicks received a positive test Thursday.
Trump was initially reported to be doing fine, and suffering from nothing more than mild symptoms.
But the president’s condition deteriorated throughout the day on Friday, with symptoms including difficulty breathing and a fever. On Friday morning, “we were real concerned with that — he had aa fever and his blood oxygen level had dropped rapidly,” Meadows said Saturday night on Fox News Channel.
Trump was given an experimental cocktail of antibodies and remdesivir.
Trump, who is 74 years old and weighs 244 pounds, is considered at high risk for the virus. But a large majority of similar patients recover from the virus without serious illness.
It’s not known how or when Trump contracted coronavirus.
He presided over a crowded Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 to announce his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney
Barrett. Several Republican lawmakers and GOP leaders who attended that event have since tested positive for the virus.
Trump later appeared at the first presidential debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden in Cleveland on Tuesday. Neither wore masks during the debate but were standing six feet apart.
Biden, who is 77, has so far tested negative for the illness.
One of Trump’s personal assistants, Nick Luna, tested positive after having traveled with Trump several times recently, The Associated Press reported Saturday night based on information from a White House official it didn’t identify.