Trump Given Supplemental Oxygen, Could be Discharged Monday

Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump’s medical team says his health “continues to improve” and that he could be discharged on Monday.

Trump’s physician, Dr Sean Conley, said in a briefing on Sunday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre that the president had been treated with the steroid dexamethasone after “a few episodes of transient drops in oxygen saturation.”

He received his first dose on Saturday. He said that although Trump was doing well on Thursday night, on Friday morning his oxygen was dipping below 94% and he had a high fever.

Dexamethasone is shown in studies to improve survival for patients hospitalized with critical COVID-19 who need extra oxygen.

“The fact of the matter is that he’s doing really well,” Dr Conley told reporters.

Differing assessments of Trump’s health from administration officials on Saturday left it unclear how ill the president had become since he tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday night.

Dr. Conley commented on the contradictory assessments on Sunday.

“I was trying to reflect an upbeat attitude of the team and the president about the course his illness has had,” Conley told reporters. “I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction and in doing so, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which isn’t necessarily true.”

In a video message posted on Twitter on Saturday evening, President Trump said he was doing well, but that the next few days will be the real test.

His diagnosis forced him to withdraw at least temporarily from the campaign, raising questions about its potential effects on the November 3 election.

Rita Osakwe