Trump's treatment similar to average American's, only faster

President received one additional experimental drug and faster care

President Donald Trump has had the best possible care for his COVID-19, his doctors have repeatedly assured America.

“He's on a routine regimen of COVID therapy,” his physician Sean Conley said Monday.

It's true that while he's had outstanding care, Trump's therapies have been similar to those available to most other hospitalized COVID19 patients – with two major exceptions.

The president received a dose of an experimental drug only tried so far in about 2,000 people as part of a research trial, and he's gotten everything far sooner than would a typical COVID-19 patient.

Here's a breakdown of the president's treatment and how it differed from that available to most Americans:

Earlier on everything

Even his diagnosis came much faster.

Average Americans wait a few days after they start feeling sick to get COVID19 tests–if they can even get one–and days longer for results. But Trump was tested and his positive diagnosis confirmed on Thursday, within 24 hours of first feeling fatigued on a flight back to Washington, D.C., from a rally in Minnesota.

He rapidly received the one nonstandard drug, a combination of so-called monoclonal antibodies, and was hospitalized “out of an abundance of caution” on Friday afternoon, less than 48 hours after his diagnosis.

Most Americans can get a medical professional on the phone in that time frame, but would likely be told to stay at home, take a fever- reducer like Tylenol, and monitor their breathing.

Trump's doctors have been somewhat cagey about t he president's early symptoms, other than to describe a high fever and low energy.

His blood oxygen saturation level – a measure of the amount of oxygen in the blood – may have briefly fallen as low as the 80s twice on Friday and Saturday, Conley hinted. But it bounced back after he received oxygen, Conley said, reassuringly, and measured a normal 95% to 97% on Tuesday.

Most people wouldn't know if they had oxygen level drops like that, unless they have a pulse oximeter at home, but usually would be admitted to the hospital if their oxygen levels dropped below about 94%, especially if they were having trouble breathing.

Monoclonal antibodies

Before Trump headed to the hospital, less than 48 hours after his first symptoms, he had already received a dose of a monoclonal antibody made by Regeneron, a New York biotech company.

The drug, REGN-COV2, is intended to mimic the natural process of the immune system, providing it with molecules called antibodies the body normally manufactures to fight off specific diseases. It is currently being tested in people at various stages of the disease, including patients who have been diagnosed and are symptomatic but not hospitalized, as was Trump.