Tag: condition

America’s history of racism was a preexisting condition for COVID-19

Posted on October 13, 2020 by [email protected]_84

A Louisiana pastor prays as his parishioners die, first from cancer and now from COVID-19. An Indigenous community in New Mexico lacks adequate health care as the death toll mounts. A sick hospital worker in New Jersey frets about infecting others in her heavily populated neighborhood.

a group of people standing in front of a mirror posing for the camera: Parishioners stand in Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Reserve, LA, during a sermon by Rev. Fr. Christopher Chike Amadi.

© Jasper Colt, USA TODAY
Parishioners stand in Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Reserve, LA, during a sermon by Rev. Fr. Christopher Chike Amadi.

As the country cries out for a vaccine and a return to normal, lost in the policy debates is the reality that COVID-19 kills far more people of color than white Americans. This isn’t a matter of coincidence, poor choices or bad luck – it’s by design.

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A team of USA TODAY reporters explored how the policies of the past and present have made Black, Asian, Hispanic and Indigenous Americans prime targets for COVID-19. They found:

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America’s education and economic systems are still unequal, disproportionately leaving people of color out of higher-wage jobs. When COVID-19 struck, more people of color were serving as essential workers directly in the path of the virus.

Decades of discrimination in housing corralled people of color into tightly packed neighborhoods, fueling the virus’ spread. Those neighborhoods tend to lie in “food deserts,” leading to diabetes, obesity and heart disease that make people more likely to die from the virus.

Environmental policies designed by white power brokers at the expense of the poor has poisoned the air they breathe, fueling cancers and leaving communities weakened in the path of the virus. A lack of federal funding left the most vulnerable communities cut off from healthcare at the most critical moment.

Put simply, America’s history of racism was itself a preexisting condition.

Of the 10 U.S. counties with the highest death rates from COVID-19, seven have populations where people of color make up the majority, according to data compiled by USA TODAY. Of the top 50 counties with the highest death rates, 31 are populated mostly by people of color.

“COVID-19 has brought out into the open, with painful clarity, these divisions in our society that have been there for a long time but, for one reason or another, people were able to overlook them,” said Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health Program at Boston College.

With nearly 1,000 people a day dying from the virus and scientists scrambling to grasp exactly how the virus spreads and kills, federal and state data has not provided enough demographic detail to show the full impact on communities of color. The race and ethnicity of people who contract the virus is known in 52% of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But study after study has shown clear patterns in whom the virus kills.

How systemic racism led to COVID-19’s rapid spread among people of color

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As Trump’s condition makes headlines, America’s pandemic is getting worse

Posted on October 5, 2020 by [email protected]_84

The extraordinary attention generated by President Donald Trump’s fight with Covid-19 has obscured an alarming turn in a pandemic that is showing signs of accelerating as colder weather approaches, with 2,000 new America deaths recorded since he was diagnosed.

a man talking on a cell phone: WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 02: U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the South Lawn of the White House on October 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for coronavirus. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

© Drew Angerer/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 02: U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the South Lawn of the White House on October 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for coronavirus. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Cases of Covid-19 are rising in 22 states and are falling in only five, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, and the death toll in the United States is approaching 210,000. Yet there are few signs, despite the virus sweeping through the White House and infecting Trump allies on Capitol Hill of any fresh White House appreciation of the danger or a plan to try to slow the spread of the disease.

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The latest close Trump associate to return positive tests were White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany along with two other press aides. There is little indication that the administration has undertaken a serious effort to contact and trace people who were at a Supreme Court nominating event nine days ago at the White House that appears to have infected multiple people. There are no official briefings warning Americans about what they need to do to mitigate the worsening situation. And the government experts who once were front and center are never seen alongside the President.

Trump did say he had learned a lot about Covid-19 during his stay in Walter Reed military hospital where he was taken on Friday, but the main focus of the President’s aides has been projecting him as strong 29 days ahead of an election in which he appears to be in considerable trouble. The President’s drive-by photo-op Sunday in front of supporters gathered with flags and banners outside Walter Reed reflected how he has consistently put his own personal and political goals ahead of a serious approach to the worst public health emergency in 100 years.

On Friday, when Trump went into the hospital, the United States recorded more than 54,000 new cases of the virus and 906 deaths. On Saturday, close to 50,000 new cases were reported along with 687 deaths. And on Sunday, there were 36,600 cases and 410 deaths according to Johns Hopkins figures collected by CNN. Tallies at the weekend are generally lower due to the difficulty of reporting.

Such numbers utterly contradict the message that Trump was giving hours before he was diagnosed with the disease himself, that the US was “turning the corner” and that “the end of the pandemic is in sight.”

The newly diagnosed patients will not have the state-of-the-art facilities, experimental treatments and dedicated hospital suites that are afforded to the President of the United States. Many patients in the pandemic have died

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Serious coronavirus-related inflammatory condition among children now reported in adults: CDC

Posted on October 5, 2020 by [email protected]_84

A rare but serious coronavirus-related inflammatory condition in children was also recently identified among adults, per a report released Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) usually involves shock, heart malfunction, stomach pain and hyperinflammation. The CDC drew on reports of 27 adult patients to describe a new, similar condition — multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A).

RARE CORONAVIRUS-LINKED SYNDROME AFFECTS 11 CHILDREN IN WASHINGTON STATE: OFFICIALS

“These 27 patients had cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, dermatologic, and neurologic symptoms without severe respiratory illness and concurrently received positive test results for SARS-CoV-2…,” per the report. Fortunately, the vast majority (24 of 27) of MIS-A patients survived, which was said to mirror outcomes seen in MIS-C patients treated in intensive health care settings.

There is still much unknown over MIS-A, with a deal of uncertainty over the timeline from SARS-CoV-2 infection to MIS-A onset, but the report suggests “MIS-A and MIS-C might represent postinfectious processes.” Adults who reported typical COVID-19 symptoms went on to develop MIS-A about two to five weeks later.

Patients with MIS-A may not test positive for COVID-19, given the onset of the syndrome weeks later. The agency emphasized the importance of antibody testing for previous SARS-CoV-2 infection to recognize and treat MIS-A.

Of the 27 MIS-A patients included in the report, 30% of them, along with “45% of 440 children with MIS-C reported to CDC through July 29,” tested negative for current SARS-CoV-2 infection but had positive antibody results.

There is still much unknown over MIS-A, a newly identified coronavirus-related complication in adults that had previously been reported among children. (iStock)

WHAT IS DEXAMETHASONE, THE NEWEST DRUG IN TRUMP’S COVID-19 TREATMENT?

The criteria used to identify MIS-A include severe illness requiring hospitalization in patients over age 21; current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in the past 12 weeks; severe dysfunction of one or more organs other than the lungs; lab evidence of severe inflammation and a lack of severe respiratory illness.

Patients were mostly treated with corticosteroids among other treatments like vasopressors (to raise blood pressure) or blood thinners.

The report also noted that “all but one” of the patients in the report were among racial or ethnic minorities, adding that “MIS-C has also been reported disproportionately in these communities.” However, due to the small sample size, the CDC said more research is needed before making conclusions about the burden of MIS-A in various groups.

“Findings indicate that adult patients of all ages with current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection can develop a hyperinflammatory syndrome resembling MIS-C,” authors wrote, adding that measures to limit COVID-19 spread may help prevent MIS-A.

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Trump received dexamethasone for COVID-19. Here’s what that says about his condition

Posted on October 5, 2020 by [email protected]_84

A pharmacy worker holds a box containing dexamethasone. <span class="copyright">(Yui Mok/PA via Associated Press)</span> — A pharmacy worker holds a box containing dexamethasone. (Yui Mok/PA via Associated Press)

Overly aggressive treatment of very important patients is a time–honored tradition, doctors say.

But if the decisions of President Trump’s physicians are guided by strong and publicly available research, they suggest his early response to his coronavirus infection prompted serious worry about his prognosis.

Although the use of the anti-viral remdesivir is now standard for a wide range of COVID-19 patients, the steroid dexamethasone is considered safe only when a patient appears to be at high risk of developing the kind of overactive inflammatory response that can lead to organ failure and death.

The United Kingdom’s Recovery study, which first revealed that dexamethasone could be helpful to COVID-19 patients, found “no evidence of benefit for patients who did not require oxygen.”

It was followed by a U.S. study that identified potential dangers of giving dexamethasone to patients who did not appear to be on the road to severe illness.

In patients with very high levels of C-reactive protein, which is produced by the liver in response to inflammation, corticosteroids like dexamethasone reduced the likelihood of mechanical ventilation or death by 75%, according to the U.S. study, which appeared in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

But in patients whose C-reactive protein levels were not greatly elevated, the steroids appear to have harmed rather than helped. In fact, these COVID-19 patients were three times more likely to die or require mechanical ventilation than were similar patients who didn’t get the steroids, the study reported.

If Trump’s physicians are following the recommendations from the Recovery study and giving him 6 mg of dexamethasone once per day for 10 days, his treatment could stretch to Oct. 14 — one day before the second presidential debate is scheduled to take place in Miami.

In addition to nudging up his blood pressure and his blood sugar levels, that dose for that period of time could affect the president’s mood, his sleep and his memory.

“Corticosteroid-induced psychiatric disturbances are common,” according to a review published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Side effects could include “mania, depression, psychotic or mixed affective states, cognitive deficits, and minor psychiatric disturbances (irritability, insomnia, anxiety, labile mood).”

In one analysis, researchers calculated that just over one-quarter of patients with no previous psychiatric history developed mild to moderate symptoms while on doses similar to the one the president is likely receiving. One of the studies included in that analysis found that distractibility and intermittent memory impairment were evident in 79% and 71% of patients, respectively.

In addition, a study in the Journal of Neuroscience concluded that deficiencies in declarative memory — the ability to retain and recall known facts and events — may emerge in those on standard treatments with dexamethasone after only four to five days.

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Dr. Inglesby examines Trump’s coronavirus condition: What we’ve heard is ‘largely encouraging’

Posted on October 4, 2020 by [email protected]_84

President Trump seems to be doing well since his coronavirus diagnosis, Dr. Inglesby of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told “Fox News Sunday.”

“The news we heard yesterday was largely encouraging,” he said. “The fact that the president is not requiring oxygen, that a number of lab tests were reported to be normal and he was able to deliver that video yesterday.”

But Inglesby said White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ announcement that the president required oxygen on Friday was “worrisome” and it would be helpful to know the results of some other tests presumably conducted at Walter Reed Medical Center such as a chest x-ray or CT scan.

PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD RETURN TO WH ‘AS EARLY AS TOMORROW,’ IF CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO IMPROVE, DOCTORS SAY

According to the CDC, about one-third of COVID-19 patients above the age of 65 required hospitalizations leading up to June 2020, and eight out of 10 people in the same age group died.

President Donald Trump arrives at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, on Marine One helicopter after he tested positive for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Inglesby explained that symptoms can worsen quickly within a 5-10 day period, especially among people in Trump’s age group and with underlying conditions.

“The president is receiving extraordinary care and looks like he’s doing well but it’s certainly a serious disease for people his age,” he said. “It’s very difficult to judge [his recovery] at this time.”

Large public events such as Trump’s rallies should no longer be permitted during the pandemic, Inglesby said, since the virus is easily spread through projected voice and the president and his team neglect to follow masking guidelines.

“When the commission sets rules for preventing transmission during debates, they should be followed,” he said.

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Inglesby suggested that future debates be held virtually due to the “unanticipated, very large risks” surrounding them.

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White House acknowledges Trump’s condition had been worse than revealed

Posted on October 4, 2020 by [email protected]_84

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed that President Donald Trump’s condition on Friday was far worse than officials had made public, saying doctors recommended the president go to the hospital after seeing he had a fever and his blood oxygen level dropped rapidly.

a man wearing a suit and tie: FILE PHOTO: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to reporters about President Trump's health after he was tested positive for COVID19

© Reuters/KEN CEDENO
FILE PHOTO: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows speaks to reporters about President Trump’s health after he was tested positive for COVID19

Meadows made the comments in an interview with Fox News broadcast Saturday night that capped two days of conflicting and opaque assessments of the 74-year-old president’s health.

“I can tell you this the biggest thing we see is with no fever now, and with him doing really well with his oxygen saturation levels,” Meadows told Fox host Jeanine Pirro. “Yesterday morning we were really concerned by that. He had a fever, and his oxygen level had dropped rapidly. Yet in typical style, this president was up and walking around.”

White House officials including Meadows said on Friday that Trump was experiencing “mild symptoms” and continuing to work. He told Fox News however, that doctors from Walter Reed and Johns Hopkins recommended that Trump go to the hospital.

“He’s made unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning when I know a number of us, the doctor and I, were very concerned,” Meadows said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Frances Kerry)

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What We Do & Don’t Know Right Now About Donald Trump’s Condition After COVID-19 Infection

Posted on October 3, 2020 by [email protected]_84

Win McNamee/Getty Images Donald Trump at Tuesday’s debate

President Donald Trump announced early Friday morning that he and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19.

Trump, 74, has long sought to downplay the novel coronavirus in the last seven months, contending at times that the highly contagious respiratory illness is a political “hoax” and just last week saying that it “affects virtually nobody.”

Including the president, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 7.3 million people in the U.S. and has killed at least 207,699, according to a New York Times tracker.

“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19,” Trump tweeted. “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”

White House doctor Sean Conley went on to clarify over the weekend that Trump was first diagnosed Thursday evening.

Here’s everything we know so far. This story will be updated.

Joshua Roberts/Getty Images Donald Trump

What Symptoms Has Trump Shown?

Although White House doctor Sean Conley initially said on Friday that the first couple planned on remaining at home as they recovered from COVID-19, later that day Trump was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center out of an “abundance of caution.”

“President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday afternoon.

Conley offered more details about the president’s symptoms the following day.

During a Saturday press conference, he said Trump had been fever-free for 24 hours and that his other symptoms, which included fatigue “are now resolving and improving.” Conley also noted that the president was not currently receiving oxygen, although he evaded specific questions about Trump’s fever or whether he had ever received supplemental oxygen.

However, a source familiar with the president’s health offered conflicting information. “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” the source said, according to a White House pool report. “We’re still not on a clear path to recovery.”

Trump was last seen by reporters on Friday as he departed the White House for Walter Reed hospital and was seen wearing a mask and giving reporters a thumbs-up sign.

What Led to Trump’s Positive Test?

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty President Donald Trump

Trump’s positive result came after the news one of his top aides, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.

Hicks, a former 31-year-old public relations consultant, had reportedly been in the small group of confidants helping the president prepare for Tuesday’s debate. She also traveled with Trump on Air Force One to-and-from Minnesota on Wednesday evening for a campaign rally.

Several thousands showed up to the president’s outdoor rally, while pool reporters traveling with Trump noted “most” in the crowd did not wear masks. The president also met with local state lawmakers during private fundraising events in the state.

“It’s very, very hard when you

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Trump tests positive:White House sows confusion about Trump’s condition as source tells reporters next 48 hours will be critical

Posted on October 3, 2020 by [email protected]_84

An attempt by President Donald Trump’s doctor to reassure the public about Trump’s condition following his infection with Covid-19 only created widespread confusion and concerns about transparency on Saturday, as a source familiar with the President’s health told reporters that the next 48 hours will be critical in determining how he fares.

a tall building in a city: A view of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 2, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland. - President Donald Trump will spend the coming days in a military hospital just outside Washington to undergo treatment for the coronavirus, but will continue to work, the White House said October 2nd.

© BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
A view of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 2, 2020, in Bethesda, Maryland. – President Donald Trump will spend the coming days in a military hospital just outside Washington to undergo treatment for the coronavirus, but will continue to work, the White House said October 2nd.

“The President’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” the source told White House pool reporters after the briefing from his doctors.

Moments earlier on Saturday morning, the President’s physician, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley, had offered an upbeat assessment of the President’s condition stating that he was feeling well, that he had been “fever-free” for 24 hours and that his symptoms — which included an “extremely mild cough,” nasal congestion and fatigue — “are resolving and improving.” Conley was evasive about when and if Trump had received supplemental oxygen, saying, “He is not on oxygen.”

a group of people standing in front of a crowd posing for the camera: Staff and visitors listen as President Donald J. Trump speaks with Judge Amy Coney Barrett during a ceremony to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden at the White House on Saturday, Sept 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Staff and visitors listen as President Donald J. Trump speaks with Judge Amy Coney Barrett during a ceremony to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden at the White House on Saturday, Sept 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

But a source close to the White House said Trump has received supplemental oxygen since his illness began. Trump “definitely has had oxygen,” the source said, adding that it was on Friday.

The New York Times first reported the oxygen development. CNN reported on Friday the President was having a hard time breathing.

The rosy briefing from doctors, which contradicts other information emerging about the President’s condition, came the morning after Trump was transported to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a move that plunged the country into a deepening crisis as the circle of current and former aides to the President testing positive rapidly widened.

Conley said during the briefing — which occurred shortly before noon Saturday at Walter Reed — that the President was diagnosed with the coronavirus 72 hours earlier. He later released a statement midday on Saturday saying that he misspoke during the briefing and meant to say it was “Day Three” of Trump’s diagnosis — and that the President was diagnosed Thursday night.

Trump revealed his diagnosis around 1 a.m. ET Friday on Twitter.

Conley offered scant and insufficient details about the President’s vital signs. He acknowledged that the President had a fever at one point, but refused to say what it was. A person

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Here’s What Trump’s Physician Said About the President’s Condition Following His COVID Diagnosis

Posted on October 3, 2020 by [email protected]_84

From Men’s Health

President Donald Trump is “doing very well” after his first night at Walter Reed Medical Center, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said Saturday in a press conference. Dr. Conley was flanked by other members of the president’s medical team, who briefed the press on the president’s condition and revealed new details about the timeline of his diagnosis and treatment.

The president has been fever-free for 24 hours and has normal organ function, according to the doctors. Trump will be on a five-day course of the experimental antiviral therapy remdesivir. Reporters repeatedly pressed Dr. Conley on whether Trump has received supplemental oxygen at Walter Reed. Dr. Conley said Trump is not currently on supplemental oxygen, but would not confirm whether the president has needed it so far.

Conley also shared that the president asked about hydroxychloroquine—a drug Trump has championed despite there being little evidence it can treat the coronavirus—but his medical team has not prescribed it.

Conley said Trump was “just 72 hours into the diagnosis now,” which could mean he was diagnosed as early as Wednesday. The president traveled to New Jersey on Thursday for a campaign fundraiser and revealed at 1 a.m. on Friday that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, were diagnosed only after reports emerged that close aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for coronavirus. On Friday, the White House issued a statement that the president was experiencing “mild symptoms” of the virus and would be transported via helicopter to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. When asked why the decision was made to transfer Trump to Walter Reed, Conley said, “Because he’s the President of the United States.”

Photo credit: Men's Health — Photo credit: Men’s Health

Trump falls into a high-risk category for COVID-19 given that he’s male, 74 years old, and clinically obese. The disease has so far killed over 200,000 Americans and more than one million people worldwide.

Several Republican lawmakers and members of the Trump administration announced positive coronavirus diagnoses on Saturday. Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, the president of the University of Notre Dame Rev. John Jenkins, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, and Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel all have announced they have tested positive for COVID-19. This wave of new diagnoses comes a week after more than 100 people gathered—most without masks—in the White House Rose Garden to celebrate Trump’s third nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. An indoor reception followed the outdoor ceremony.

On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence, as well as former Vice President and current Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, tested negative for the virus.

This is a developing situation. This story will be updated as new details become available.

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President’s condition ‘concerning, source says

Posted on October 3, 2020 by [email protected]_84

President Donald Trump said early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus. (Oct. 2)

AP Domestic

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s condition after receiving a diagnosis of coronavirus was “very concerning” over the past day, a source with knowledge of the president’s status said – offering a more sober assessment than the one provided publicly by the president’s physician on Saturday.

“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” said a source familiar with the president’s health. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”

The assessment was more sober than the rosy prognosis offered Saturday by Trump’s physician.

Trump is “doing very well,” the president’s physician, Sean Conley, told reporters at Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday hours after he was taken to the hospital after experiencing fever, congestion and other symptoms from COVID-19.

“This morning, the president is doing very well,” Conley told reporters, adding that he was “extremely happy” with the president’s progress so far.

Doctors said the president had been fever free for over 24 hours and was not on oxygen Saturday but did not answer several questions about whether he had been at any point previously. Trump’s medical team denied a report Friday that the president was having trouble breathing.

“He’s not on oxygen right now,” Conley said, adding that Trump had an oxygen saturation level of 96%, within the normal range for a healthy person.

Doctors monitor oxygen in blood as an indicator of whether there’s low oxygen levels, one of the problems that occurs with COVID-19.

Conley said the president developed a fever Thursday and said that doctors were continuing to evaluate when he could return to the White House. Asked why, specifically, he had been transferred to Walter Reed, Conley indicated it was out of an abundance of caution.

“Because he’s the president of the United States,” Conley said.

Trump, 74, remained at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Saturday after he and first lady Melania Trump announced early Friday they had tested positive for COVID-19. White House officials, who initially described the president’s case as mild, later said he was experiencing symptoms such as fatigue and fever.

President Donald Trump walks off Marine One while arriving at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on October 2, 2020. (Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AFP via Getty Images)

Soon after Trump arrived at the hospital, the White House released a memo from Conley indicating the president was starting remdesivir therapy. Conley said at that time that Trump was “doing very well” and was “resting comfortably.”

Trump also received a single 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail as a precautionary measure, according to Conley. The antibody cocktail is being studied in four late-stage clinical trials and its safety and efficacy have not been fully evaluated by any regulatory authority, the company said on its page.

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