Topline
White House Physician Sean Conley said Thursday night that President Donald Trump has completed his “course of therapy” for the coronavirus, just one week after the president was diagnosed.
Key Facts
Conley said he anticipates that Trump will be able to return to public engagements by Saturday, nine days after his Thursday diagnosis.
Since returning to the White House from the hospital earlier this week, Conley said Trump has remained stable and “devoid of any indications to suggest progression of illness.”
Trump has been treated with five doses of the antiviral remdesivir, which has been granted emergency use authorization by the FDA, an experimental antibody cocktail made by Regeneron and the powerful steroid Dexamethasone.
Crucial Quote
“Overall, he’s responded extremely well to treatment, without evidence on examination of adverse therapeutic effects,” Conley said.
Key Background
Trump and his doctors say he has been doing well since returning from Walter Reed Medical Center on Tuesday. But the White House’s public response has drawn criticism. Conley gave a positive outlook on Trump’s condition over the weekend, only to be contradicted by Chief of Staff Mark Meadows moments later. Conley also misspoke about the infection timeline and did not disclose during a press conference that Trump’s oxygen levels dropped twice. And on Wednesday, Conley said Trump had coronavirus antibodies in his system, but did not say that testing may just be detecting the presence of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail rather than an immune system response by the president.
What To Watch For
White House officials still have not confirmed the date of Trump’s last negative test and they have not shared whether or not tests show he still has the virus in his body and could be infectious.
