Trump to invest days at military hospital after COVID-19 diagnosis

President Donald Trump appeared in public on Friday (Oct 2) evening for first-time since being stricken by COVID-19, boarding his Marine One helicopter for a flight to a military hospital.

Trump walked from the White House and gave a thumbs-up but didn't speak. Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to safeguard themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.

In his first public comments since his diagnosis, Trump said he believes he's "doing perfectly", in a short video message posted on his Twitter account.

"I want to thank everyone for the tremendous support. I will Walter Reed hospital. I think I am doing very well. But we 're going to be sure that things workout," Trump said.

"The First Lady is doing perfectly," he added.

The White House said the visit of “a couple of days” to Walter Reed National Military INFIRMARY was precautionary and that Trump would continue steadily to work from the hospital’s presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to maintain his official duties. Online video showed a little group of Trump supporters outside Walter Reed late on Friday waving Trump 2020 flags, most not wearing masks.

“President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working during the day," said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for another few days.”

Trump includes a mild fever, according to a source acquainted with the problem. White House doctor Sean Conley said late on Friday that Trump was doing perfectly, didn't need supplemental oxygen, and had received an initial dose of Remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral drug sold by Gilead Sciences that is shown to shorten hospital stays.

In a tweet late on Friday, the president wrote: "Going well, I think! Thank you to all or any. LOVE!!!"

Previously Friday, the White House said Trump have been injected with an experimental antibody cocktail by the White House physician.

He received an intravenous dose of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals's dual antibody, Dr Conley said.

Trump was also taking immune system boosters zinc and vitamin D, aspirin, and other generic drugs.

Regeneron's drug, REGN-COV2, is part of a class of experimental COVID-19 drugs known as monoclonal antibodies: created copies of human antibodies to the virus that are being studied for use in patients with early illness.

Just a month prior to the presidential election, Trump's revelation that he was positive for the virus came by tweet about 1am after he previously returned from a day political fundraiser. He previously gone ahead, saying nothing to the crowd though knowing he previously been subjected to an aide with the disease that has infected millions in America and killed greater than a million people worldwide.

First lady Melania Trump also tested positive, the president said, and several others in the White House have, too, prompting concern that the White House or even Trump himself may have spread the virus further.

MORE FOLKS AROUND TRUMP TEST POSITIVE

Several other prominent Republicans also tested positive on Friday, including former White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and Republican senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, who met the president at announcement of Trump's Supreme Court judge nomination on Sep 26.

Trump's campaign manager, Bill Stepien, also tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and can home based, according to a senior campaign official.

With just 31 days to go until Election Day, Trump's campaign said it would postpone rallies and other events where he was scheduled to appear, or take them online.

Vice President Mike Pence, who would dominate presidential duties if Trump became severely ill, tested negative, a spokesman said. The former Indiana governor, 61, is working from his own residence several miles from the White House.

Trump is at risky as a result of his age and weight. He has remained in apparent good health during his time in office but is not known to exercise regularly or even to follow a healthy diet plan.

Trump has spent much of the entire year downplaying the risk of the virus, rarely wearing a protective mask and urging states and cities to “reopen” and reduce or eradicate shutdown rules.

The president’s physician, Dr Conley, said in a memo late Friday that Trump “remains fatigued however in good spirits" and a team of professionals was evaluating both president and first lady in regard to next steps.

The first lady, who is 50, includes a “mild cough and headache,” Dr Conley reported, and the remainder of the first family, like the Trumps’ son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.

READ: Trump's age, health woes raise his risk for COVID-19 illness

Both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have tested negative, their campaign said. Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus Friday morning and “remains in good health,” his spokesman said.

Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was simply with him and many more on Sep 26 and has been on Capitol Hill ending up in lawmakers, also tested negative, the White House said.

Trump's diagnosis was sure to truly have a destabilising effect in Washington and around the world, raising questions about how far the virus has spread through the best levels of the US government. Hours before Trump announced he previously contracted the virus, the White House said a top aide who had traveled with him during the week had tested positive.