4th October, 2020
By Agency Reporter
US President Donald Trump may be discharged by Walter Reed Hospital tomorrow as his condition is improving.
His doctors said on Sunday his treatment would continue at the White House.
Doctors told reporters today they provided Trump with supplemental oxygen twice during his battle with the lung disease, on Thursday and Friday, and have also given him dexamethasone.
They spoke today the day after a series of contradictory messages from the White House caused widespread confusion about Trump’s condition.
Dexamethasone is shown in studies to improve survival for patients hospitalized with critical COVID-19 who need extra oxygen.
But it should not be given in mild cases since it can limit the body’s own ability to combat the virus, according to guidelines from the Infectious Disease Society of America.
“The fact of the matter is that he’s doing really well,” Dr. Sean P. Conley told reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Trump has been receiving treatment since Friday.
Doctors said Trump has not run a fever since Friday and that his liver and kidney function remained normal after the second dose in a five-day course of Remdesivir.
Remdesivir, which was made for Ebola, is an intravenous antiviral drug sold by Gilead Sciences Inc that has been shown to shorten hospital stays.
Dr Brian Garibaldi said Trump was given dexamethasone in response to “transient low oxygen levels.”
“He received his first dose of that yesterday and our plan is to continue that for the time being,” Garibaldi said.
Trump is also being given an experimental treatment, Regeneron’s REGN.O REGN-COV2, as well as zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and aspirin, his doctors have said.
Trump released a four-minute video on Saturday in which he said the “real test” of his condition will come over the next few days.
His illness has upended the campaign ahead of the November presidential election and cast a spotlight on the president’s handling of the pandemic.
The Republican president is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in opinion polls.