President Donald Trump left the White House for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 Friday.
Trump announced that he and his first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for the coronavirus on his Twitter account Thursday night. The couple announced they would be quarantining for a few days after one of his aides, Hope Hicks, tested positive.
Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, told reporters Friday morning that the president was experiencing “mild symptoms.” Two people close to Trump told The New York Times that his symptoms include a low-grade fever, nasal congestion and a cough.
The President suspended his campaign as he is expected to remain in the hospital for several days.
Vice President Mike Pence told governors in a video conference call Friday morning that the family would recover at the White House, but the president took Marine One to the hospital this afternoon. He wore a mask and did not address reporters.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, Alyssa Farah, told The New York Times that the president had not transferred power to Pence. The president, she said, remains in charge.
“The president remains fatigued but in good spirits,” according to a memo from his doctor, Dr. Sean Conley.
Trump has received a single infusion of a promising experimental treatment: an antibody cocktail developed by the biotech company Regeneron, according to the memo. He is also taking vitamin D, zinc, melatonin, a daily aspirin and famotidine (an antacid better known as Pepcid), the memo said.
Previously scheduled in-person events involving the president or his family will be cancelled or moved online. Trump had planned to hold two rallies in Wisconsin despite the state being put in the “red zone” risk level this weekend.
“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days. President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady.”
Previously scheduled presidential debates in Florida and Tennessee are now uncertain, but the vice presidential debate scheduled to be held at the University of Utah on Tuesday, Oct. 7 will continue on. Pence tested negative for COVID-19 Friday morning.
Pence reportedly replaced Trump on a scheduled phone call in the afternoon.
Joe Biden tested negative after last Tuesday’s debate and offered prayers for President Trump, calling the news he tested positive “a bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 207,302 Americans have died of COVID-19 thus far and that 7.2 million people have tested positive for the virus.
Story by: Connor Sanders
eic@suunews.net
