It may be days before severity of Trump’s illness is known
President Donald Trump was at the hospital Sunday after announcing he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
Trump flew to Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Marine One on Friday evening after experiencing fever and fatigue. Officials said they expected him to be there for a few days.
The diagnosis raises many questions about how long the president has been infected, who else may have been exposed, how the diagnosis will influence the election and what happens next.
At what point is Trump considered not contagious?
- From Twitter
While the duration of infectiousness for COVID-19 has yet to be confirmed, scientists believe that people with mild to moderate COVID-19 may shed the virus for up to 10 days after symptoms first appear, according to the CDC.
It’s still unclear what day the president first began experiencing symptoms as mixed messaging from the White House continues to muddle the timeline. Trump first announced his diagnosis on Twitter early Friday morning but made no mention of symptoms.
It wasn’t until later that morning when White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters the president was experiencing “mild symptoms.” On Saturday, White House physician Sean Conley disclosed on the record for the first time that the president had a fever.
How secure is the president’s suite at Walter Reed? How is it adapted to COVID?
– Rick of Austin, Texas
Conley said in a memo Friday morning that the president and first lady planned to “remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.” But hours later, Trump was going to the hospital in what aides said was a precautionary move.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is the nation’s premier health care center for troops and senior government officials. It‘s Ward 71 consists of six patient rooms, one of which is in the Presidential Suite. The suite is intended for use by high-level officers and Cabinet-level government officials.
Asked Saturday morning how the suite has been outfitted amid the coronavirus pandemic, Conely said that “it’s the same as any hospital.”
“We have an area that’s clean that you put your equipment on, and then beyond that everyone is fully gowned up, masks, gloves, for protecting ourselves and him,” he said.
Who administered the test?
– Elsie of Salina, Kansas
Conley confirmed the positive test result in a memo released by the White House shortly after the president’s tweet.
Conley has been Trump’s physician since 2018. He came into the spotlight in May when he approved of the president taking hydroxychloroquine. At the time, Conley said “the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.”
How often has Trump been tested?
– M from Buffalo, New York
Asked this same question at the press briefing Saturday, Conley said, “I’m not going to get into all the testing going back, but he and all the staff routinely are tested.”
During a press briefing in May, Trump said he had been receiving “on average a test every two days, three days.”
Earlier that day, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who announced Monday that she also had tested positive for the coronavirus, said Trump was tested “multiple times a day.”
In addition, people coming into contact with the president at the White House are supposed to be tested. That includes his aides, staffers and military and the Secret Service agents who protect him.
How soon into the disease progression do you know if you’re going to have a severe or mild case?
– Peggy from Scottsdale, AZ Symptoms typically appear two to 14 days after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But about 40% of people who are exposed to COVID-19 don’t have any symptoms at all.
In some cases, older adults and people of any age with underlying health conditions may take longer than others to develop fever and other symptoms, according to the CDC.
Among patients who developed severe disease, it is about five to eight days from the onset of illness or symptoms to difficulty breathing, according to the CDC. The median time to acute respiratory distress syndrome ranges from eight to 12 days, and the median time to ICU admission ranges from 10 to 12 days.
Some patients have rapidly deteriorated one week after illness onset, the CDC said.
“The first week of COVID – and in particular days 7 to 10 – are the most critical in determining the likely course of his illness,” Conley said Saturday.
What is the minimum amount of days Trump is obligated to quarantine?
– Tim of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The president is in isolation, not quarantine. “Isolation” separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick. “Quarantine” separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.
The CDC recommends that people who have had COVID-19 can be around other people again if they meet three criteria: It has been 10 days since symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, and other symptoms are improving.
What happens if Trump can’t perform his duties?
– Sam of Rochester Hills, Michigan Presidential succession is spelled out in the Constitution.
Under the 25th Amendment, the president could notify House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the Senate majority’s senior member, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that he is unable to function, transferring power to the vice president until the president indicates he is able to return.
The provision has been invoked only three times since the amendment’s ratification in 1967, creating a legal mechanism for designating a head of state when the president is disabled. It was used briefly when Ronald Reagan had surgery in 1985 and similarly when George W. Bush was under anesthesia in 2002 and 2007.