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Trump, back at the White House, compares COVID-19 to seasonal flu
By Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin and Aamer Madhani
Washington: Still sickened by COVID-19, US President Donald Trump has plunged back into playing down the disease that hospitalised him for three days and has so far killed more than 210,000 Americans. He compared it anew to the seasonal flu and signalled he plans to return soon to the campaign trail.
Back at the White House after a dramatic helicopter return from the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19, Trump's attitude alarmed infectious disease experts. And it suggested his own illness had not caused him to rethink his often-cavalier attitude toward the disease, which has also infected the first lady and more than a dozen White House aides and associates.
The US President removed his mask at the White House after returning from hospital, where he was being treated for COVID-19.Credit: Getty Images
Anxious to project strength just four weeks from election day, Trump, who is still contagious with the virus, tweeted on Tuesday morning local time (Wednesday AEDT) that he was planning to attend next week's debate with Democrat Joe Biden in Miami. "It will be great!" he said.
He also returned to his previous comparisons of COVID-19 to the seasonal flu.
"Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu," he tweeted. "Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!"
In fact, COVID-19 has already proven to be a more potent killer, particularly among older populations, than seasonal flu, and has shown indications of having long-term impacts on the health of younger people it infects. During the 2019-2020 influenza season, the flu was associated with 22,000 deaths, according to US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.
Twitter responded by putting a warning label on the President's tweet, saying the post included potentially misleading information.
Facebook also took the post down but not before it was shared about 26,000 times, data from the company's metric tool CrowdTangle showed.
"We remove incorrect information about the severity of COVID-19," a company spokesman said.
Meantime, the chairman of the joint chiefs-of-staff and other top military leaders are under quarantine after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for coronavirus, two US officials said.
General Mark Milley and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force have tested negative for the virus, but remain under quarantine as a precaution, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information not yet made public. The head of US Cyber Command, General Paul Nakasone, was also among those quarantined.
The officials said the military leaders were working from home and this has not affected military readiness.
Up to 14 officials are believed to have been potentially exposed to the virus after meetings last week with the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Charles W Ray, who has tested positive. The officials were informed about the positive test on Monday.
Coast Guard aide Jayna McCarron, a member of the White House Military Office, and one of the President's valets also tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. McCarron is part of the crew that safeguards the nuclear "football" containing codes for the US nuclear arsenal. The office is a vital cog in operations that provides communications, food, transportation and valet services at the White House complex. The President's valet, who is also active-duty military, had travelled with the President last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Senior advisor to Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, has also tested positive to COVID-19. Miller has been in quarantine due to his close contact with Trump aide Hope Hicks, who was the first senior White House figure diagnosed.
On Tuesday, Trump’s physician Navy Commander Sean Conley said the President was experiencing "no symptoms" of COVID-19 after returning home from the hospital on Monday night.
He said that Trump had a "restful first night at home" and that his vital signs remained stable, including his blood oxygen level.
The doctor did not provide any details on what medications the President was taking, including whether he had been administered additional steroids. But he said: "Overall he continued to do extremely well."
Just days before his return to the White House, Trump suggested he had finally grasped the true nature of the virus, saying in a video, "I get it," moments before he ventured out of the hospital while contagious to salute cheering supporters by motorcade – an outing that disregarded precautions meant to contain the virus.
Trump returned to the White House on Monday night aboard Marine One, gingerly climbing the South Portico steps before removing his mask and giving a double thumbs-up from the terrace, where aides had arranged American flags for the sunset occasion. He entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.
In a video released later, Trump offered a nonchalant take on the virus, contravening the public health warnings of his own administration that Americans take the threat seriously and to take precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the disease as cases continue to spike across the country
"Don't be afraid of it," Trump said. "You're going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines." His remarks were strong, but he was taking deeper breaths than usual as he delivered them.
Left unsaid was that the President's experience with the disease has been far from typical, as his doctors rushed him onto experimental antiviral drugs and prescribed an aggressive course of steroids that would be unavailable to the average patient. While most must cope with their symptoms – and fear of whether they'll take a turn for the worse – at home and alone, Trump had been staying in the presidential suite of one of the nation's best hospitals, and he's now at the White House, where there is a team of doctors on call with 24-hour monitoring.
Trump's efforts to play down the threat of the virus in hopes of propping up the economy ahead of the election have drawn bipartisan criticism.
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that Trump had "let his guard down" in his effort to show that the country was moving beyond the virus and had created "confusion" about how to stay safe.
Dr David Nace of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, said of Trump's comment: "We have to be realistic in this: COVID is a complete threat to the American population."
"Most of the people aren't so lucky as the President," with an in-house medical unit and access to experimental treatments, added Nace, an expert on infections in older adults.
"It's an unconscionable message," agreed Dr Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "I would go so far as to say that it may precipitate or worsen spread."
Likewise, Biden, who spent more than 90 minutes on the debate stage with Trump last week, said during an NBC town hall Monday night that he was glad Trump seemed to be recovering well, "but there's a lot to be concerned about – 210,000 people have died. I hope no one walks away with the message that it's not a problem." Biden tested negative for the virus on Sunday.
Biden said he'd "listen to the science" ahead of the upcoming debates, adding that the campaigns and the debate commission should be "very cautious" in making plans. "If scientists say that it's safe, that distances are safe, then I think that's fine," he said. "I'll do whatever the experts say."
Conley said that because of Trump's unusual level of treatment so early after discovery of his illness he was in "uncharted territory". But the doctor also was upbeat at an afternoon briefing and said the President could resume his normal schedule once "there is no evidence of live virus still present."
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, those with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 can be contagious for as many as – and should isolate for at least – 10 days.
Trump's arrival back at the White House raised new questions about how the administration was going to protect other officials from a disease that remains rampant in the President's body. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she had tested positive for the virus on Monday morning and was entering quarantine.
There were also lingering questions about potential long-term effects to the President –and even when he first came down with the virus.
Conley repeatedly declined to share results of medical scans of Trump's lungs, saying he was not at liberty to discuss the information because Trump did not waive doctor-patient confidentiality on the subject. COVID-19 has been known to cause significant damage to the lungs of some patients. Conley also declined to share the date of Trump's most recent negative test for the virus – a critical point for contact tracing and understanding where Trump was in the course of the disease.
At the hospital, doctors revealed that his blood oxygen level had dropped suddenly twice in recent days and that they gave him a steroid typically only recommended for the very sick.
Trump left the hospital after receiving a fourth dose of the antiviral drug remdesivir on Monday evening, Conley said. He will receive the fifth and final dose on Tuesday at the White House.
Vice-President Mike Pence returned to the campaign trail moments after Trump announced he would soon leave the hospital. Pence boarded Air Force Two to fly to Salt Lake City, where he is to face off against Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris on Wednesday.