Donald Trump Improving and 'in Good Spirits,' Doctors Say

White House physician Dr. Sean Conley gave an update on President Donald Trump's condition on [...]

By Michael Hein

White House physician Dr. Sean Conley gave an update on President Donald Trump's condition on Saturday morning as his hospitalization for COVID-19 continues. The president revealed that he had tested positive for the coronavirus in the early hours of Friday morning. On Friday evening, he was taken to Walter Reed Military Medical Center. In a live press conference outside of that hospital, Conley said that Trump "is doing very well."

Conley introduced the team of doctors administering to the president outside of Walter Reed Military Medical Center on Saturday. He explained that it was his decision to hospitalize the president, to take advantage of the "state of the art monitoring" capabilities of the facility. Conley said that Trump's condition improved in his first 18 hours in the hospital. Another doctor revealed that the president has told him: "I feel like I could walk out of here right now."

Doctors then took questions from reporters, commenting that the president is continuing to work from within his hospital room. They said that Trump is not receiving supplemental oxygen right now, but declined to comment on whether he had been on it at any point. They also revealed that he had a fever from Thursday night into Friday morning, but that it has been broken since then. However, they refused to disclose how high his temperature got at its peak.

The doctors said that Trump asked them about using Hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus treatment, despite the overwhelming evidence that it is not an effective treatment for COVID-19. Dr. Conley said that they discussed this option with the president and ultimately decided not to take it.

The White House claimed that Trump was taken to the hospital without warning on Friday evening "out of an abundance of caution. Officials have since announced that Trump is receiving an antibody treatment that is still in the middle of human trials. The Regeneron Pharmaceuticals treatment consists of an antibody cocktail given in one 8-gram dose and is considered one of the most promising therapies in development. Trump has also been treated with supplemental vitamins and minerals during his stay in the hospital.

Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis in the early hours of Friday morning via Twitter. The president and the first lady both tested positive for the virus, as did senior White House adviser Hope Hicks. In the hours that followed, several more prominent Republican leaders tested positive, along with staffers from both the White House and the presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday.

The White House downplayed Trump's condition at first, but he was hospitalized on Friday evening. The White House claimed this was done "out of an abundance of caution." However, the president's advanced age, his weight and other physical health factors put him squarely in the "high-risk" category for this virus.

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