Trump coronavirus: What COVID-19 treatment is the president receiving?
WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President Donald Trump’s physician Dr. Sean P. Conley and medical team treating the president for COVID-19 provided an update on Sunday.
President Trump’s team of doctors says he is doing well after his COVID-19 diagnosis and could be discharged as early as Monday to continue his treatment.
Dr. Brian Garibaldi, a specialist in pulmonary critical care, said Trump received a second dose of the experimental drug Remdesivir along with a first dose of dexamethasone Saturday and isn’t showing any side effects “that we can tell.”
He said Sunday that Trump is “up and well” and the plan was to have him “out of bed” Sunday as much as possible.
Garibaldi and Trump’s doctor, Dr. Sean Conley, said if things continue to go well, Trump will be able to return to the White House on Monday to continue his five-day course of Remdesivir treatment and other appropriate therapy.
On Saturday, Trump’s medical team reported improvement of the president’s COVID-19 coronavirus symptoms, saying he has a mild cough, nasal congestion, and fatigue.
The president received a special antibody treatment and has started a 5-day Remdesivir treatment.
His team of doctors says he has been fever free for the last 24 hours. Conley reports the president’s heart and kidney function is normal and he is “not on oxygen.”
He said the president is doing “very well” as he spends the weekend at a military hospital for treatment of COVID-19.
“He’s in exceptionally good spirits,” said another doctor, Sean Dooley. He said Trump told doctors, “I feel like I could walk out of here today.”
President Donald Trump started Remdesivir treatment on Friday according to Dr. Conley.
According to his physician, Trump is not requiring any supplemental oxygen but after consultation with specialists, they elected to initiate the Remdesivir therapy. Trump was given a second dose of Remdesivir on Saturday.
Earlier Friday, Conley said the president received a single 8 gram dose of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail as a precautionary measure after his coronavirus diagnosis.
The president completed the Regeneron infusion without incident. In addition to the polyclonal antibodies, Conley says the President has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin.
Conley said Friday afternoon the president is fatigued but in good spirits.
First lady Melania Trump “remains well with only a mild cough and headache,” Conley said, noting that the remainder of the Trump family are well and tested negative for coronavirus Friday.
Conley says the president is being evaluated by a team of experts, and together, they will make reccomendations to the president and first lady in regards to the next best steps.
NewsNation obtained a statement from Regeneron about the treatment the president received. The company says they received a request from the president’s physicians to provide a dose of REGN-COV2, a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies, for use by President Trump. The dose is an investigational COVID-19 therapy and was provided in response to an individual patient investigational new drug (IND) application from the president’s physicians.
Earlier this week Regeneron announced early data showing the therapeutic treatment reduces viral levels and improved symptons in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.