Trump, still infectious, back at White House - without mask

President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he was acquiring an unprecedented degree of care for COVID-19. He immediately ignited a fresh controversy by declaring that despite his illness the country should not fear the virus which has killed a lot more than 210,000 Americans - and then he entered the White House with out a protective mask.

Trump’s message alarmed infectious disease professionals and suggested the president’s own illness had not caused him to rethink his often-cavalier attitude toward the condition, which includes also infected the first lady and many White House aides, including new cases revealed Monday.

Landing at the White House on Marine One, Trump gingerly climbed the South Portico steps, removed his mask and declared, “I feel good.” He gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter from the portico terrace, where aides had arranged American flags for the sunset occasion. He entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.

The president left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where his doctor, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley, said earlier Monday that the president remains contagious and wouldn't normally be fully “out of your woods” for another week but that Trump had met or exceeded standards for discharge from the hospital. Trump is likely to continue his recovery at the White House, where the reach of the outbreak which has infected the highest degrees of the U.S. government continues to be being uncovered.

Still, only a month prior to the election and anxious to project strength, Trump tweeted before leaving a healthcare facility, “Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!!” And in the event anyone missed his don’t-worry message earlier, he rushed out a fresh video from the White House.

“Don’t hesitate of it,” Trump said of the virus. “You’re likely to beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the very best medicines.” His remarks were strong, but he was taking deeper breaths than usual as he delivered them.

Trump’s nonchalant message about not fearing the virus comes as his own administration has encouraged Americans to be careful and take precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the condition as cases continue to spike across the country. For a lot more than eight months, Trump’s efforts to play down the risk of the virus hoping of propping up the economy prior to the election have drawn bipartisan criticism.

“We must be realistic in this: COVID is a complete threat to the American population,” Dr. David Nace of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said of Trump’s comment.

“Most of the persons aren’t so lucky as the president,” with an in-house medical unit and usage of experimental treatments, added Nace, a specialist on infections in older adults.

“It’s an unconscionable message,” agreed Dr. Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “I'd go as far as to say that it may precipitate or worsen spread.”

Likewise, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who spent a lot more than 90 minutes on the debate stage with Trump the other day, said during an NBC town hall Monday night that he was glad Trump appeared to be recovering well, “but there’s too much to be concerned about -- 210,000 persons have died. I hope no-one walks away with the message that it’s no problem.” Biden tested negative for the virus on Sunday.

There is pushback from a prominent Trump political supporter aswell.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told the Houston Chronicle editorial board that Trump had “let his guard down” in his effort showing that the united states was moving beyond the virus and had created “confusion” about how precisely to stay safe.

Conley said that as a result of Trump’s unusual degree of treatment so early after discovery of his illness he was in “uncharted territory.” But the doctor also was upbeat at a day briefing and said the president could resume his normal schedule once “there is absolutely no proof live virus still present.”

Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people that have mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 could be contagious for as many as - and should isolate for at least - 10 days.

Trump’s arrival back at the White House raised new questions about how precisely the administration would protect other officials from an illness that remains rampant in the president’s body. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced she had tested positive for the virus Monday morning and was entering quarantine.

There have been also lingering questions about potential long-term effects to the president - and even though he first came down with the virus.

Conley repeatedly declined to share results of medical scans of Trump’s lungs, saying he had not been at liberty to discuss the information because Trump didn't waive doctor-patient confidentiality about them. COVID-19 has been known to cause significant harm to the lungs of some patients. Conley also declined to talk about the date of Trump’s latest negative test for the virus - a critical point for contact tracing and understanding where Trump was throughout the disease.

Only a day earlier, Trump suggested he previously finally grasped the real nature of the virus, saying in a video, “I obtain it.” But on Sunday afternoon, he ventured out of the hospital while contagious to salute cheering supporters by motorcade - an outing that disregarded precautions designed to contain the virus.

At the hospital, doctors revealed that his blood oxygen level had dropped suddenly twice in recent days and they gave him a steroid typically only recommended for the sick.

Trump’s experience with the condition has been dramatically not the same as most Americans, who don't have access to the same kind of monitoring and care. While most must cope with their symptoms - and concern with whether they’ll take a turn for the worse - at home and alone, Trump has been residing in the presidential suite of 1 of the nation’s best hospitals and has been given experimental drugs not easily available to the general public. He returns to the White House, where there is a team of doctors on call with 24-hour monitoring.

Trump was leaving the hospital after receiving a fourth dose of the antiviral drug remdesivir Monday evening, Conley said. He'll have the fifth and final dose Tuesday at the White House.

Vice President Mike Pence returned to the campaign trail occasions after Trump announced he'd soon leave the hospital. The vice president boarded Air Force Two to fly to Salt Lake City, where he's to handle off against Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday.

Trump, in his new video, defended his decision to repeatedly flout his own administration’s guidelines to slow the spread of the virus, including by holding rallies with a large number of mostly maskless supporters.

Apparently referring to any potential danger to himself instead of others, he said: “I stood out front. I led. Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did.” He added: “And I understand there’s a risk, there’s a danger. But that’s OK. And today I’m better. And maybe I’m immune, I don’t know.”

Even before Trump’s motorcade outing Sunday, some Secret Service agents had expressed concern about the lackadaisical attitude toward masks and social distancing in the White House, but there isn’t much they are able to do, according to agents and officials who spoke to The Associated Press.

Trump’s aggressive course of treatment included the steroid dexamethasone and the single dose he was presented with Friday of an experimental drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that supplies antibodies to help the disease fighting capability fight the virus. Trump on Friday also began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill patients. The drugs work in several ways - the antibodies help the immune system rid your body of virus, and remdesivir curbs the virus’s ability to multiply.