Trump takes a brief car ride, ignoring own COVID infection

Infected and contagious, President Donald Trump briefly ventured out in a motorce on Sunday to salute cheering supporters, a move that disregarded precautions meant to contain dely virus that has forced his hospitalization and killed more than 209,000 Americans.

Hours earlier, Trump’s medical team reported that his blood oxygen level dropped suddenly twice in recent days and that y gave him a steroid typically only recommended for very sick. Still, doctors said Trump’s health is improving and that he could be discharged as early as Monday.

With one month until Election Day, Trump was er to project strength despite his illness. still-infectious president surprised supporters who h gared outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, driving by in a black SUV with windows rolled up. Secret Service nts inside vehicle could be seen in masks and or protective gear.

move capped a weekend of contrictions that fueled confusion about Trump’s health, which has imperiled leership of U.S. government and upended final sts of presidential campaign. While Trump’s physician offered a rosy progsis on his condition, his briefings lacked basic information, including findings of lung scans, or were quickly muddled by more serious assessments of president's health by or officials.

In a short video released by White House on Sunday, Trump insisted he understood gravity of moment. But his actions moments later, by leaving hospital and sitting inside SUV with ors, suggested orwise.

“This is insanity,” Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed who is a critic of Trump and his handling of pandemic. “Every single person in vehicle during that completely unnecessary presidential ‘drive-by’ just w has to be quarantined for 14 days. y might get sick. y may die.”

“For political ater,” doctor ded. “Commanded by Trump to put ir lives at risk for ater.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump’s trip outside hospital “was cleared by medical team as safe to do.” He ded that precautions were taken, including using personal protective equipment, to protect Trump as well as White House officials and Secret Service nts.

Joe Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, said Democratic presidential minee again tested negative for coronavirus Sunday. results come five days after Biden spent more than 90 minutes on debate st with Trump. Biden, who has taken a far more cautious approach to in-person events, h two negative tests on Friday.

For his part, Trump still faces questions about his health.

His doctors sidestepped questions on Sunday about exactly when Trump’s blood oxygen dropped — an episode y neglected to mention in multiple statements day before — or wher lung scans showed any dam.

It was second straight day of obfuscation from a White House alrey suffering from a credibility crisis. And it raised more doubts about wher doctors treating president were sharing accurate, timely information with American public about severity of his condition.

Pressed about conflicting information he and White House released on Saturday, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley ackwledged that he h tried to present a sunnier description of president’s condition.

“I was trying to reflect upbeat attitude that team, president, that his course of illness has h. Didn’t want to give any information that might steer course of illness in ar direction,” Conley said. “And in doing so, you kw, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true. fact of matter is that he’s doing really well.”

Medical experts said Conley’s revelations were hard to square with his positive assessment and talk of a discharge.

“re’s a little bit of a disconnect,” said Dr. Steven Shapiro, chief medical and scientific officer at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

According to CDC guidelines, “In general, transport and movement of a patient with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection outside of ir room should be limited to medically essential purposes.”

Even before Trump's motorce outing on Sunday, some Secret Service nts have expressed concern about lackaisical attitude toward masks and social distancing inside White House, but re isn’t much y can do, according to nts and officials who spoke to Associated Press. This close to election, thousands of nts are engd on protective duty so y can be subbed out quickly should someone test positive.

disclosures about Trump's oxygen levels and steroid treatment suggested president is enduring more than a mild case of COVID-19.

Blood oxygen saturation is a key health marker for COVID-19 patients. A rmal reing is between 95 and 100. Conley said president h a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on Friday and during “ar episode” on Saturday.

He was evasive about timing of Trump oxygen drops. (“It was over course of day, yeah, yesterday morning,” he said) and asked wher Trump’s level h dropped below 90%, into concerning territory. (“We don’t have any recordings here on that.”) But he revealed that Trump was given a dose of steroid dexamethasone in response.

At time of briefing, Trump’s blood oxygen level was 98% — within rmal r, Trump’s medical team said.

Signs of pneumonia or or lung dam could be detected in scans before a patient feels short of breath, but president’s doctors declined to say what those scans have revealed.

“re’s some expected findings, but thing of any major clinical concern,” Conley said. He declined to outline those “expected findings.”

Asked about Conley’s lack of transparency, White House aide Alyssa Farah suggested doctors were speaking as much to president as to American public, “when you’re treating a patient, you want to project confidence, you want to lift ir spirits, and that was intent.”

In all, nearly 7.4 million people have been infected in United States, and few have access to kind of around--clock attention and experimental treatments as Trump.

Trump’s treatment with steroid dexamethasone is in dition to single dose he was given Friday of an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that supplies antibodies to help immune system fight virus. Trump on Friday also began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gile Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill patients. drugs work in different ways — antibodies help immune system rid body of virus, and remdesivir curbs virus’ ability to multiply.

Garibaldi, a specialist in pulmonary critical care, said president was t showing any side effects of drugs “that we can tell.”

National Institutes of Health COVID-19 treatment guidelines recommend against using dexamethasone in patients who do t require oxygen. It has only been proven to help in more serious cases. Among concerns with earlier use is that steroids tamp down certain immune cells, hindering body’s own ability to fight off infection.

Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications.

First ly Melania Trump has remained at White House as she recovers from her own bout with virus.

Several White House officials this weekend expressed frustration with level of transparency and public disclosure since president anunced his diagsis early Friday.

y were particularly upset by whiplash between Conley’s upbeat assessment Saturday and White House chief of staff Mark Meows’ more concerned outlook. y privately ackwledge that ministration has little credibility on COVID-19 and that y have unnecessarily squandered what remains of it with lack of clear, accurate updates on Trump’s condition.

Many in White House are also shaken and scared — nervous that y have been exposed to virus and confronting reality that what seemed like a bubble of safety has become a COVID-19 hot spot. It took until late Sunday for White House to send a generic te to staffers suggesting y t come to building if y do t feel well.

(Im credit: AP)

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