US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has remained out of sight for a second day as he recovers from Covid-19.
However, he has made his presence known through social media upon his return to the Oval Office as he tweeted broadsides against Democrats and floated false disease figures.
It was Trump’s first visit to the Oval Office since being discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre on Monday.
He was briefed on Hurricane Delta, which is bearing down on the US Gulf Coast, and on economic stimulus prospects.
His doctor reported today that the president continued to make progress in his recovery.
Dr Sean Conley, the White House physician, reported that Trump had declared: “I feel great!”
Dr Conley added in a memo that Trump had been symptom-free for over 24 hours, and that his oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate were normal.
The memo also said that antibodies against the coronavirus were detected in blood drawn from Trump on Monday, suggesting he may be fighting off the infection.
Last Friday, he had been given an experimental treatment that contained manufactured antibodies.
It is unclear what the detection of antibodies means about the course of his illness. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says individuals can discontinue isolation 10 days after symptom onset.
Precautions
Aides were instructed to take extensive precautions to prevent themselves from catching the coronavirus from the president. And while aides say he is working, White House officials have offered scant details of what he is up to.
It is unclear if Trump, since returning to the White House, has been able to receive the daily summary and analysis of national security issues produced for the president and key Cabinet members and advisers.
White House officials did not answer questions about whether he has been briefed on Hurricane Delta approaching the US Gulf Coast.
Amidst the national public health crisis, a personal one, and warning flares from leading economists that the virus-scarred economy badly needs stimulus, Trump pushed out more than four dozen tweets by midday praising supporters and attacking his opponents.
Trump again publicly played down the virus on Twitter as even more of his aides tested positive, including one of his closest advisers Stephen Miller.
All told more than a dozen White House staffers have tested positive.
In one significant national coronavirus action, Trump declared there would be no action before the election on economic-stimulus legislation — an announcement that came not long after the Federal Reserve chairman said such help was essential for recovery with the nation reeling from the human and economic cost of the pandemic.
He later tweeted his support for a range of stimulus proposals that appear to be a political non-starter before election day.
As for Trump’s own recovery, his doctor, Navy Commander Sean Conley, said in a brief Tuesday letter that the president had a “restful” Monday night at the White House and “reports no symptoms”.
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