U.S. President Donald Trump could return to the White House as soon as Monday, to continue his treatment for COVID-19.
The president’s medical team at Walter Reed Army Medical Centre told reporters Trump continues to make progress in his fight against the virus, despite conflicting reports from White House staffers over the weekend.
On Sunday, the president’s physician Sean Conley told the press Trump had received supplemental oxygen as early as Friday, despite avoiding questions about the treatment from reporters the day before.
Dr. Conley said he chose not to share that information in order to reflect the “upbeat attitude” of the president’s team.
“I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction,” Conley said. “In doing so it came off as if we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t true.”
Conley said Trump received the supplemental oxygen after experiencing two drops in oxygen saturation, including a drop to 93 per cent on Saturday.
Despite being asked directly, Conley would not clarify whether the president’s oxygen saturation had dropped into the 80 per cent range or whether damage had been found in his lungs.
The briefing Sunday also brought news that Trump is now taking dexamethasone, a steroid which physicians have said helps patients suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms.
President Trump did thank well-wishers of his and First Lady Melania Trump, posted to his personal Twitter account Saturday evening.
Conley’s admission that the medical team had administered oxygen was not the only detail that was disputed by other members of the administration this weekend.
On Saturday, reports surfaced that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had given reporters information that clashed with the rosy picture painted by the president’s medical team in a press briefing moments earlier.
Meadows was quoted saying the president’s vitals were ‘concerning’ and there was not yet a ‘clear path to recovery.’
On Sunday, Conley said Meadows’ statement was ‘misleading.’
“What he meant was that 24 hours ago, when he and I were checking on the president, there was that momentary episode of a high fever and that temporary drop in (oxygen) saturation, that prompted us to act expediently to move him up here,” Conley said of the decision to bring the president to the hospital on Friday.
Meadows has since joined Conley in expressing optimism on Trump’s condition, telling Fox News on Saturday the president’s condition had shown ‘unbelievable improvement.’
The list of Trump associates that have tested positive for COVID-19 continued to grow over the weekend, with some, including CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, speculating the president’s Rose Garden ceremony for his Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett could have been a super-spreader event.
