Trump given experimental drug, flown to military hosp
Washington, Oct. 3: US President Donald Trump, who was shifted to a military hospital after being tested positive for Covid19, is undergoing remdesivir therapy and is doing well, White House physician Dr Sean Conley said.
Trump, 74, was flown to Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, on Friday. He wore a mask and walked up to the helicopter from the White House. He was administered supplemental oxygen at the White House hours after being diagnosed with Covid-19 and before being flown to the hospital.
Dr Conley said that as a precautionary measure the President had received a single eight-gram dose of an experimental drug, Regeneron's polyclonal antibody cocktail. He completed the infusion out incident.
“He is not requiring any supplemental oxygen, but in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate remdesivir therapy. He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably,” Dr Conley said.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, 50, were tested positive for Covid19 on Friday. While the President was taken to the military hospital, the First Lady stayed back at the White House.
A person familiar with US President Donald Trump's Covid-19 illness said some of his vital signs over the past 24 hours were very concerning but they have improved since he was admitted to a military hospital.
It contradicted Trump's doctors, who said during a press conference Saturday that the President was doing very well and felt as though he could walk out of the hospital. They said he had not been on oxygen on Saturday or when he was with their medical team Friday, and that his symptoms were subsiding.