Story at a glance
- President Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Monday and returned to the White House after being treated for COVID-19.
- He will continue treatment at the White House medical unit.
- “It’s not a secret that if you look at the clinical course of people, sometimes when you are five to eight days in, you can have a reversal. A reversal meaning going in the wrong direction and getting into trouble,” Fauci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says doctors need to be alert to a possible reversal of President Trump’s condition after the president left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Monday evening.
White House physician Sean Conley on Monday afternoon told reporters the president met the criteria to be discharged from the hospital and would continue treatment at the White House medical unit, but noted that the president may not be entirely “out of the woods” as he is still in the early stages of his coronavirus infection.
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During an interview with CNN Monday evening, Fauci said while it’s unlikely the president could see a worsening of his condition, it’s still possible.
“He looks fine as you can see the way he looked when he came out of the hospital,” Fauci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
“The issue is that he’s still early enough in the disease that it’s not a secret that if you look at the clinical course of people, sometimes when you are five to eight days in, you can have a reversal. A reversal meaning going in the wrong direction and getting into trouble,” the nation’s top infectious diseases expert noted.
“It’s unlikely that it will happen, but there needs to be heads up for it,” he added.
The president has been treated with an experimental antibody treatment and is undergoing a course of the antiviral drug remdesivir. He was also treated with the steroid dexamethasone, which raised concern about the president’s condition as the drug is typically reserved for severely ill patients.
Early Friday, the president announced he and the first lady had tested positive for the virus. He was taken to Walter Reed later that day and had been experiencing symptoms including fatigue and fever. He also required supplemental oxygen on Friday and Saturday.
Trump, who is still infected with the highly contagious virus, walked up the stairs of the South Portico upon returning to the White House Monday evening, removed his mask and posed for photos while looking over the balcony above the South Lawn.
The president was near a photographer and other staffers and did not put his mask back on as he turned to walk back into the White House.
Trump earlier in the day tweeted to his followers, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
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