First Lady Melania Trump also tested positive for the coronavirus, and is “doing well,” her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham said Saturday afternoon. Trump’s husband, President Donald Trump tested positive on Thursday and both have symptoms of COVID-19. The president was taken to Walter Reed Medical Center Friday afternoon, but Trump remains at the White House.
“Mrs. Trump is doing well. Her symptoms have not worsened and she continues to rest. She remains in touch with her husband. She is thinking of all who are ill and wishes them a speedy recovery,” Grisham told NBC News‘ Peter Alexander. On Friday, Trump tweeted that she had “mild symptoms” of the coronavirus, but was “overall feeling good.” She hoped for a “speedy recovery.”
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President Trump’s exact condition is still unknown, due to contradictory statements from the White House on Saturday. During a press conference outside Walter Reed, Dr. Sean Conley and President Trump’s other staff doctors would not confirm if Trump needed supplemental oxygen. Conley repeatedly said Trump did not need supplemental oxygen Saturday. “He has not needed any this morning, today at all,” Conley said, reports CNN.
Reporters asked if the president ever needed it during his illness, but Conley only said Trump “right now” did not need it, adding, “Yesterday and today, he was not on oxygen.” However, a source told CNN President Trump “definitely has had oxygen” at the White House Friday, before he was hospitalized.
Moments after Conley’s press conference, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told the White House pool reporters the situation was still very serious. “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” Meadows said.
President Trump is being treated at the presidential suite at Walter Reed, and it will allow him to continue in his duties as president. He is receiving two experimental treatments. On Friday, he started a five-day course of remdesivir, which can be used for moderately and severely ill patients, reports the Associated Press. He was also given a dose of a drug Regeneron is testing that sends antibodies to the immune system.
The White House is working on tracing the new infections among Trump aides and Republicans. The positive tests came after a Sept. 26 event, when the president named Judge Amy Coney Barrett his new Supreme Court nominee. Many others who attended the event have tested positive, including Chris Christie, Kellyanne Conway, Hope Hicks, and three Republican Senators, Mike Lee, Thom Tillis, and Ron Johnson. Very few people were seen wearing face masks at the event, and people ignored social distancing guidelines.
