Coronavirus: Donald Trump defiant despite being taken to hospital for COVID-19 treatment
Donald Trump has assured the world he is ‘doing well’ and revealed more about his battle with coronavirus, amid claims the US President is ‘having trouble breathing’.
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Donald Trump has been admitted to a military hospital to be treated for coronavirus,
after thanking well-wishers, as his bitter presidential rival Joe Biden urged Americans to “be patriotic” in response to the virus.
It has been revealed Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump’s inner circle has also tested positive to the virus. Conway’s daughter, Claudia confirmed the diagnosis.
Conway left the White House in August after a public feud with Claudia, but remains well connected to Trump.
Last week, Kellyanne attended a ceremony for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in the White House Rose Garden.
According to the New York Post, six people at that event have tested positive.
The outbreak has spread to the White House Press Corp with three journalists also testing positive.
First Lady Melania Trump, Senior White House advisor Hope Hicks and Republican Senator Thom Tillis have also tested positive.
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, Republican Senator Mike Lee and Republican Senator Thom Tillis have all tested positive to COVID-19.
“I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support,” Trump sid in a video message, filmed at the White House before he was taken by helicopter to the Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
“I’m going to Walter Reed hospital. I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out,” Trump said.
“The first lady is doing very well. So thank you very much, I appreciate it, I will never forget it. Thank you.”
The White House said the action was being made “out of an abundance of caution”.
“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” it said.
“Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.
“President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady.”
Trump left Washington DC on Marine One around 8.30am (AEST) and will work out of the hospital “for the next few days” in a special presidential suite of rooms, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
Trump has received an “antibody cocktail” of an experimental drug and a range of other medicines to treat his COVID-19 infection, his physician has revealed.
Dr Sean Conley said in a statement that the President was “fatigued, but in good spirits”.
“Following PCR-confirmation (full range testing) of the President’s diagnosis, as a precautionary measure he received a single 8 gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail,” Dr Conley said.
“He completed the infusion without incident.”
Regeneron said this week its experimental two-antibody cocktail reduced viral levels and improved symptoms in non-hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19.
Results for the first 275 trial patients showed the greatest effect in patients who had not mounted their own immune response prior to treatment, suggesting that REGN-COV2 could provide a therapeutic substitute for the naturally-occurring immune response, Regeneron said.
REGN-COV2 is part of a class of biotech therapies known as monoclonal antibodies. Several companies are using the technology to manufacture copies of the body’s own antibodies to the new coronavirus. Regeneron believes its dual-antibody formula will limit the ability of the virus’ to escape detection.
Dr Conley said: “In addition to the polyclonal antibodies, the President has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin.
“As of this afternoon, the President remains fatigued but in good spirits.
“He is being evaluated by a team of experts and together we’ll be making recommendations to the President and the First Lady in regards to next best steps.
“First Lady Melania Trump remains well with only a mild cough and mild headache and the remainder of the First Family are well and tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 today.”
Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden and wife Dr Jill Biden tested negative yesterday and Mr Biden briefly returned to the campaign trail.
Mr Biden said he prayed for a “quick and full recovery” for the first family, but added that the pair’s diagnosis was a stark reminder of the threat COVID still posed and called for a national mask mandate, which the Trump administration has resisted.
“Be patriotic. It’s not about being a tough guy, it’s about doing your part,” Mr Biden said.
“This is not a matter of politics, it’s a bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously.
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“It’s not going away automatically. We have to do our part to be responsible.
“It means following the science, means listening to the experts, washing our hands, social distancing. It means wearing a mask in public. It means encouraging others to do so as well.”
Mr Biden repeated CDC guidance that wearing masks could save 100,000 US lives by the end of the year.
More than 207,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus and coming cold weather in the northern winter has experts bracing for another huge spike in cases as more people stay indoors.
“We as a nation need to do better in dealing with this pandemic,” Mr Biden said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has wished Trump a speedy recovery, while former US President Barack Obama, who said last month that Trump didn’t take being president seriously, sent him best wishes despite the “big political fight”.
PM’S PRIVATE NOTE TO TRUMP, 1 IN 500 BRITS TEST POSITIVE
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sent a private message to US President Donald Trump wishing him a speedy and full recovery after he and the First Lady were diagnosed with coronavirus.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters on Friday, local time, that Mr Trump and his wife were in “high spirits” but confirmed that the commander-in-chief was feeling a little under the weather and was being monitored by doctors.
“The president does have mild symptoms and as we look to try to make sure that not only his health and safety and welfare is good, we continue to look at that for all of the American people,” Mr Meadows told reporters of the news.
According to a New York Times report, the president appeared lethargic during a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf resort Thursday and fell asleep on Air Force One after his Wednesday night rally in Minnesota.
Mr Trump tweeted that he and Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 and would now begin a 14-day period of quarantine on Friday, local time.
The pair were tested after one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks, was diagnosed on Thursday local time.
Ms Hicks was recently on Air Force One with the US President as he travelled to and from his first presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. She was also with him on the Marine One helicopter Wednesday (local time) when he flew back to the White House after a rally in Minnesota.
While it is yet to be verified, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins tweeted that a “small group of officials” knew about Ms Hicks testing positive before Mr Trump attended a fundraiser in New Jersey.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence has tested negative to the virus.
The shocking news comes a month ahead of the presidential election on November 3.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER,” Mr Trump tweeted close to 1am Friday, local time.
On Friday morning, Melania Trump tweeted:
Thank you for the love you are sending our way. I have mild symptoms but overall feeling good. I am looking forward to a speedy recovery.
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2020
The White House immediately cancelled Mr Trump’s campaign events except for “a phone call on COVID-19 support to vulnerable seniors”.
The shock diagnosis is likely to have a significant impact on the presidential race.
Former Vice President Joe Biden tweeted his condolences to the US President and the first lady on Friday morning, local time.
Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 2, 2020
Mr Biden and his wife Jill have tested negative for the virus, their doctor said on Friday morning.
Mr Trump spent 90 minutes debating his opponent, Mr Biden, 77, on stage in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
The President and staff members in the West Wing are tested daily for the virus.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Prince Albert II of Monaco are among other world leaders to have tested positive and recovered from the coronavirus.
Under the rules of succession, Vice President Mike Pence would assume power in the event the president is unable to perform his job. If the vice president is incapable of serving, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, would run the country.
Vice President Mike Pence was yet to comment, but met with Mr Trump in the Oval Office earlier this week.
White House Dr Sean Conley said the Trumps were feeling well and that Mr Trump would quarantine at the White House.
“I release the following information with the permission of President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. This evening I received confirmation that President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus,” he said in a statement.
“They are both well and will remain in the White House during their convalescence.
“The White House Medical team and I will maintain a vigilant watch and I appreciate the support provided by some of the country’s greatest medical professionals.
“Rest assured I expect the president to continue to carry out his duties while recovering and I will keep you updated on future developments.”
Mr Trump attended an indoor fundraiser on Thursday and had not worn a mask the entire time.
He travelled to Tuesday’s presidential debate aboard Air Force One with family members and senior staffers.
At 74 and overweight, Mr Trump is considered to be an at risk patient of the coronavirus.
Mrs Trump is considered less at risk from serious complications given her age, 50, and the fact she is not overweight.
The diagnosis means Mr Trump will have to withdraw from physically campaigning for at least two weeks while he quarantines.
But on Friday, local time, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows issued a statement saying Mr Trump was in “good spirits” and feeling “energetic”.
“We have a president that is not only on the job, he will remain on the job,” said Mr Meadows at the White House.
Asked about Ms Hicks, White House spokesman Judd Deere said “the president takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously.”
Mr Deere said the White House takes care to follow procedures “for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the president is travelling.”
But also on Friday, Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, tested positive for coronavirus, an RNC spokesman announced, according to CNN.
U.S. WORST-HIT PANDEMIC NATION IN MIDDLE OF ELECTION
More than 205,000 Americans have already died from coronavirus, and Mr Trump has been criticised for his response to the pandemic.
He has argued for months that the country needed to reopen from COVID-related shutdowns and his opponents have accused him of underplaying the threat of the deadly virus.
He has also been slammed for refusing to wear a mask in public and has repeatedly mocked his political opponent, Mr Biden, for his reliance on a mask when he has ventured into public.
The issue of mask wearing has grown into a partisan matter in recent months, with Republicans eschewing the protective measure.
As polls showed Mr Biden’s lead holding just weeks ahead of the election, Mr Trump scheduled public rallies with increasingly bigger crowds.
Messages have poured in from fellow heads of state.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “My best wishes to President Trump and the First Lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus.”
One-time democratic nominee hopeful Tulsi Gabbard also tweeted a message to the President, saying, “My husband Abraham and I offer our best wishes and aloha to President @realDonaldTrump and the First Lady @FLOTUS and praying for their speedy recovery. We also send our best wishes to Ivanka, Tiffany, Donald Trump Jr., Eric, and Barron during this difficult time.”
Vladimir Putin sent his wishes to Mr and Mrs Trump via telegram, which reportedly read, “I am certain that your inherent vitality, good spirits and optimism will help you cope with this dangerous virus.”
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “I send all my best wishes to Donald and Melania Trump. I hope that you will get over the #corona infection and will soon be completely healthy again,” Ms Merkel said on Twitter via government spokesman Steffen Siebert.
“Like millions of Israelis, Sara and I are thinking of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump and wish our friends a full and speedy recovery,” tweeted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in wrote in a letter, “[The] First lady and I wish you and your wife a speedy recovery, along with the people of South Korea. We also would like to extend a word of consolation and encouragement to your family and the American People.”
PANDEMIC EXPANDS ACROSS UK, EUROPE
As many as one in 500 Britons have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Katherine Kent, the joint head of analysis for the COVID-19 Infection Survey, said: “Our estimates continue to show a rise in COVID-19 infections across England, especially in teenagers and young adults, based on our analysis of almost 300,000 swabs from the last six weeks. Infections are highest in the northwest and northeast,” the Guardian reports.
The coronavirus R rate across the UK could now be as high as 1.6, experts have warned.
Government scientists say the epidemic is continuing to grow with the COVID-19 reproduction rate now somewhere between 1.3 and 1.6.
Citizens of Rome and Lazio will be required to wear face masks at all times after Italy saw another spike in coronavirus cases, recording more than 2,000 new cases – its highest number since April.
Lazio looks to be a potential hot spot, with the city’s Chief Health Officer Alessio D’Amato saying, “Most of the cases are tied to the lack of respect in using masks and in social distancing.”
Meantime, Madrid and nine nearby towns will go into partial lockdown immediately after a growing outbreak has lead to 859 cases per 100,000 being recorded.
Under the lockdown, borders will be closed to travellers and outsiders, with only essential workers and essential travel being permitted. Restaurants and bars will have their 1am curfew moved to 11pm.
In Paris and France, the situation is worsening.
So far, only the southern city of Marseilles and the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe have been placed on maximum alert, leading to bar as well as restaurant closures, and a shutdown of public venues such as museums and cinemas unless strict safeguards are in place.
But five other cities — Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse and Saint-Etienne — could also be placed on maximum alert next week.
Already in Paris, bars have to shut at 10pm and gyms have been closed completely.
The government has said it will take every precaution necessary to avoid a new state of emergency that would require a generalised lockdown like the one imposed at the height of the outbreak, from mid-March to mid-May.
TRAVEL BUBBLE FOR AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCED
Meantime, Australia and New Zealand will create a one-way travel bubble, involving New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
Under the plan, New Zealanders are able to travel “without hotel quarantine” to NSW and the Territory, as part of the first stages of a trans-Tasman bubble. South Australia is said to be the “next cab off the rank”, according to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
“I have just gotten off the phone with Chief Minister Gunner who says the fish are biting, and the beers are cold, and he wants to see as many of his New Zealand cousins and friends as possible … I am sure they are being echoed right across the Northern Territory and I know that New South Wales is certainly going to welcome this announcement,” Mr McCormack said at a press conference in Canberra.
While New Zealanders will be able to travel to Australia without having to quarantine on arrival, Australians will not be able to travel to New Zealand.
“Everything we have done, we have taken, we have heeded that advice and we do so again today on the basis that the hot spot definition is robust and proportionate as of course it has to be, the Commonwealth is comfortable in recommending that these people not be placed in mandatory quarantine,” Mr McCormack said.
He said the Department of Health had “undertaken a public health risk assessment of COVID-19 and New Zealand, which indicated that New Zealand posed a low risk of COVID-19 transmission to Australia”.
The program will be introduced from October 16, allowing NZ citizens from non-hotspot areas.
It came as PM Scott Morrison previously foreshadowed that the bubble would only include states with open borders.
STATE OF PLAY IN VICTORIA
Victoria recorded seven new cases of coronavirus cases and two more deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s death toll to 802.
The consistently low infection numbers mean Melbourne‘s all-important 14-day average remains firmly below 15, standing at 12.8.
That figure must be at or around five for the Government to consider reopening the city.
It comes as a small virus cluster in Frankston, in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs, can be linked back to infected workers from the fresh food section of Chadstone shopping centre.
Deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng said there had been eight infected employees who worked in fresh food at the popular shopping centre, causing the whole precinct to be added to the health department’s COVID-19 hotspot list.
The outbreak has since grown to 11 positive cases, and all staff linked to the business are in quarantine.
Mr Andrews said the Chadstone cases illustrated why it was not safe to open up yet.
“Imagine for a moment what a normal Chadstone would have looked like if that scene had played out when we had literally in the course of the day hundreds of thousands of people moving through that setting,” he said.
“It is not safe to open up now. It will be soon when we have driven these numbers down even further.”
Regional Victoria‘s 14 day average is now at just 0.2.
Comparatively, NSW recorded four new cases of coronavirus with all of those returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
This marks the seventh consecutive day of zero community transmission, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian once again urged residents not to become complacent and present for testing immediately if any symptoms occur.
‘SUPER-SPREADERS’ DROVE INDIA OUTBREAK
A small group of superspreaders were responsible for almost two-thirds of India’s coronavirus cases, according to new research into how the disease spread in the world’s second-most populous nation.
India has officially recorded 6.3 million cases so far — second only to the United States — and more than 98,000 deaths.
But the study, published in the journal Science, found that 70 per cent of infected people across the country did not spread the disease to anyone else.
By contrast, eight per cent of all people carrying the virus were responsible for 60 per cent of new infections.
The study also found that children under the age of 14 appeared to be more efficient spreaders of the virus.
“The findings indicate that … not all individuals transmit identically and also that children are potentially important in the transmission chain,” the study’s lead author Ramanan Laxminarayan said.
Researchers studied transmission of the virus among more than half a million people exposed to 85,000 confirmed cases in India’s southern Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in August.
India’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been severely hampered by its chronically underfunded healthcare systems.
The country has gradually lifted a strict lockdown imposed in March to revive a national economy battered by the outbreak, even as infections steadily climb.