Trump says his infection was ‘a blessing in disguise’ for the US
PRESIDENT Donald Trump last night credited an experimental drug treatment with helping his recovery from Covid-19 and said he wanted other sufferers to get the same treatment for free.
Mr Trump suggested his illness and treatment could turn out to be a “blessing in disguise” for the nation’s battle against the pandemic — even though there is no way for him or his doctors to know that the drug had any effect.
In a new White House video posted last night, Mr Trump said his illness had shed light on the experimental antibody cocktail that he believed had improved his condition.
Seemingly sensitive to the fact that his treatment course is far from that received by average Americans, he promised to swiftly get the drugs approved for use — and for free — even though he does not have the power to order that himself.
“I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president, because I feel great,” the president said from the Rose Garden at the White House. “I feel like perfect.”
Mr Trump received an experimental antiviral cocktail made by Regeneron through a “compassionate use” exemption – a recognition of the above-and-beyond standard of care he receives as president.
The safety and effectiveness of the drug have not yet been proven. And there is no way for the president or his doctors to know if the drug had any effect. Most people recover from Covid-19 without the drug.
In the video, Mr Trump continued to downplay the threat of the virus, promising those who are ill that they’re going to “get better fast, just like I did” – even though more than 200,000 people in the US and more than a million worldwide have died from the disease.
He posted the video on Twitter last night, two days after being discharged from hospital, after aides said he had returned to the Oval Office – despite still being infectious – for a briefing on Hurricane Delta and economic stimulus prospects.
Aides insisted that only limited staff were around him and that he entered the office from the outside to limit exposure.
Amid questions about when he will return to the campaign trail, Mr Trump also offered a flurry of tweeted broadsides against Democrats and pushed lawmakers to take up piecemeal economic aid proposals after ending negotiations on a broader assistance package.
His doctor reported yesterday that the president continued to make progress in his recovery.
White House physician Dr Sean Conley said Mr Trump had declared, “I feel great!”
But his absence from the public gaze — coupled with a lack of detailed information about the president’s health — had raised continued questions about the trajectory of his recovery and when he might be able to return to normal activities, including campaigning, less than four weeks before election day.
Dr Conley added in a memo that Mr Trump had been symptom-free for over 24 hours, and that his oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate were normal.
The memo said a blood test on Monday had showed Mr Trump had coronavirus antibodies, substances that fight infection.
However, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it was not possible for this type of blood test to distinguish between antibodies Mr Trump’s body may be making and those supplied by the company’s drug.
Most likely, the ones detected in the Monday test are from the drug, the company said.
Still, Mr Trump called the drug “the key” to his recovery.
‘I feel great. I feel like perfect,’ Mr Trump said in the new video