Trump says he’s leaving hospital Monday; White House hit by wave of infections

October 5, 2020

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U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley October 4, 2020, in his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Not shown in the photo also in the room on the call is Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Tia Dufour/The White House/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said he felt “really good” and will leave a military hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19 later on Monday, despite a wave of infections that have hit his White House four weeks before the U.S. election.

Trump, who announced on Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington later that day, said he would leave the facility at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT).

I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020

“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” he said on Twitter.

Trump, 74, was running a high fever and was given supplemental oxygen after his blood oxygen levels dropped on Friday, according to his White House physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley. Doctors have been treating him with a steroid, dexmethasone, that is normally used only in the most severe cases.

Conley is due to provide an update on the Republican president’s condition at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), a White House official said.

Trump was reluctant to go the hospital last week and is eager to get out, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan, Andrea Shalal, Susan Heavey, Lisa Lambert and Tim Ahmann; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Alistair Bell and Howard Goller)