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A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 12 OctOber 2020

Trump claims he's free of virus, ready for campaign trail

As to whether Trump could still be
contagious, Ko said the White House
appeared to be following CDC guide-
lines for when it is appropriate to end
isolation after mild to moderate cases
of COVID-19.
But Ko cautioned that those who
have had severe cases of the diseases
should isolate for 20 days. He noted
that Trump was treated with the ste-
roid dexamethasone, which is nor-
mally reserved for patients with se-
vere COVID.
Dr. Marc Lipsitch, an infectious dis-
ease expert at the Harvard School of
Public Health, said the doctor’s letter
does not provide enough information
to be assured that Trump is no longer
infectious to others. He noted that
Trump’s use of steroids could pro-
long viral shedding so the CDC’s 10-
day standard may or may not apply.
“It is a judgment call,” he said.

The White House memo followed
Trump’s first public appearance since
returning to the White House after
being treated for the coronavirus at a
military hospital. Hundreds of people
gathered Saturday afternoon on the
South Lawn for a Trump address on
his support for law enforcement from
a White House balcony.
Trump took off a mask moments af-
ter he emerged on the balcony to ad-
dress the crowd on the lawn below,
his first step back onto the public
stage with just more than three weeks
to go until Election Day. He flouted,
once more, the safety recommenda-
(AP) — President Donald Trump en from the nose and throat. Some “The comments attributed to me tions of his own government days af-
on Sunday declared he was ready medical experts had been skeptical without my permission in the GOP ter acknowledging that he was on the
to return to the campaign trail that Trump could be declared free of campaign ad were taken out of con- brink of “bad things” from the virus
despite unanswered questions the risk of transmitting the virus so text,” Fauci said in a statement, add- and claiming that his bout with the
about his health on the eve of a early in the course of his illness. Just ing that he was talking broadly about illness brought him a better under-
Florida rally meant to kick off the 10 days since an initial diagnosis of public health officials’ response to standing of it.
stretch run before Election Day. infection, there was no way to know the pandemic. “In my five decades of
for certain that someone was no lon- public service, I have never publicly His return was a brief one. With
His impending return comes after ger contagious, they said. endorsed political candidates.”Tim bandages visible on his hands, like-
the White House doctor said he was Murtaugh, Trump campaign com- ly from an intravenous injection,
no longer at risk of transmitting the His return to full-fledged rallies will munications director, responded by Trump spoke for 18 minutes, far less
coronavirus but did not say explic- be in Florida on Monday, a comeback saying that “these are Dr. Fauci’s own than his normal hour-plus rallies. He
itly whether Trump had tested nega- that comes with the president facing words” and said they were praising appeared healthy, if perhaps a little
tive for it. The president insisted he stubborn deficits in the polls. The the administration’s response.On hoarse, as he delivered what was, for
was now “immune” from the virus, Trump campaign and White House Sunday, Trump asserted in a tweet all intents and purposes, a short ver-
a claim that was impossible to prove has not indicated that any additional that he had “total and complete sign sion of his campaign speech despite
and added to the unknowns about the safety measures will be taken to pre- off from White House Doctors” to the executive mansion setting.
president’s health. vent the transmission of the virus fully return to the campaign trail, in-
“I’m immune,” Trump said in an among those traveling on Air Force sisting he can no longer spread the “I’m feeling great,” Trump told the
interview on Fox News Channel's One, at the event site or at rallies disease to others and was impervious crowd, before declaring that the pan-
“Sunday Morning Futures.” “The scheduled for Pennsylvania and Iowa to getting sick again. demic, which has killed more than
president is in very good shape to later in the week. That’s far from certain, and Twitter 210,000 Americans, was “disappear-
fight the battles.” Campaign officials have signaled later flagged his tweet with a fact- ing" despite signs of surging cases in
that Trump will be traveling nearly check warning. several states.
In a memo released Saturday night every day the rest of the campaign, While there’s evidence that rein-
by the White House, Navy Cmdr. and sometimes making more than fection in unlikely for at least three In either an act of defiance or simply
Dr. Sean Conley said Trump met the one stop, an aggressive schedule for months even for those with a mild tempting fate, officials organized the
Centers for Disease Control and Pre- a 74-year-old who was hospitalized case of COVID-19, very few diseases event just steps from the Rose Gar-
vention criteria for safely discontinu- just days ago.And with the virus again leave people completely immune for den, where exactly two weeks ago the
ing isolation and that by “currently dominating the national discourse, life. Antibodies are only one piece of president held another large gather-
recognized standards” he was no lon- the Trump campaign has released an the body’s defenses, and they natu- ing to formally announce his nomi-
ger considered a transmission risk. ad featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci prais- rally wane over time. nation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett
The memo did not declare Trump ing the president’s leadership — but “Certainly it’s presumptuous to say to the Supreme Court. That gather-
had tested negative for the virus. the nation’s leading infectious disease it’s a lifetime,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an ing is now being eyed as a possible
But sensitive lab tests — like the PCR expert on Sunday objected to being infectious disease specialist and de- COVID-19 superspreader as more
test cited in the doctor’s statements included. partment chairman at the Yale School than two dozen people in attendance
— detect virus in swab samples tak- of Public Health. have contracted the virus.