WASHINGTON (US) – Doctors treating President Donald Trump for COVID-19 sent out unclear signals about the intensity of his condition on Sunday. This happened a few hours before the president gave his supporters, who had gathered outside the hospital, a surprise with an impromptu motorcade.
Trump, 74, waved from the back seat of a black SUV in front of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington.
Trump, who said on Friday morning he had the infectious disease, received remarks for putting the health of support staff at risk.
It was Trump’s first appearance in public since he moved to the hospital on Friday.
“It’s a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID,” he said in a video posted on Twitter shortly beforehand.
Doctors said the president was improving. However, Dr Sean P Conley said the president’s condition had been worse than he had earlier admitted. He added that Trump’s blood oxygen levels had come down in prior days and that he had run a high fever on Friday morning.
Asked what tests had revealed about the condition of Trump’s lungs, Conley replied: “There’s some expected findings, but nothing of any major clinical concern.”
Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University, said, “The expected finding is that he has evidence of pneumonia in the X-ray. If it was normal they would just say it is normal.”
Dr David Battinelli, chief medical officer at New York’s Northwell Health, says, “It would be very unlikely for him to be out and about, and on the campaign trail in less than 14 days.”
Administration officials have given disputing evaluations of Trump’s health. While Conley and other doctors delivered a positive feedback on Saturday, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has undermined the claims.
Conley told reporters on Sunday, “I was trying to reflect an upbeat attitude of the team and the president about the course his illness has had. I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction.”
According to critics, personnel who traveled in Trump’s armored SUV during the afternoon motorcade would now have to go into self-quarantine for 14 days. Dr. James Phillips, an attending physician at the hospital, said on Twitter, “The irresponsibility is astounding.”
The White House Correspondents Association objected that reporters had not been told about Trump’s drive-by before it happened.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News that Trump tested positive after that fundraiser, not before the incident.