Doctor says Trump no longer a transmission risk to others
The White House did not say, however, if the president has tested negative for the virus
On Saturday night, a little over a week after President Donald Trump announced his COVID-19 diagnosis, White House physician Sean Conley released a memo stating that the president “no longer poses an infection risk” to others.
The White House did not say, however, if the president has tested negative for the virus.
“This evening I am happy to report that, in addition to the President meeting the CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning’s COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others,” Conley wrote in the memo.
According to The Hill, the White House has not provided the exact date when the president last tested negative for COVID-19. But Conley’s memo gives Trump permission to resume holding public gatherings.
Read More: Trump makes 1st public appearance since his hospital stay
On Saturday, the president spoke from a balcony to hundreds of supports standing on the South Lawn of the White House. At the event, social distancing guidelines were ignored and mask-wearing was minimal at best, showing that Trump’s approach to the virus has not changed, despite being personally stricken by the disease that has killed almost 215,000 in the country at Sunday afternoon’s check of Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that most patients should isolate for at least 10 days after the start of their symptoms, and can end isolation at the point where their symptoms ebb and they have gone at least 24 hours without a fever. However, the agency says that some severely ill patients may need to isolate for 20 days.
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In the memo, Conley also said that Trump has been “fever-free for well over 24 hours and all symptoms improved,” but he did not specify the last time the president had a fever.
Conley wrote that diagnostic tests indicated “there is no longer evidence of actively replicating virus.” Conley said that moving forward, he will continue to clinically monitor the president as he returns to an active schedule.
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