US President Donald Trump posted a video Saturday from the hospital where he is battling Covid-19, saying he was improving and would be “back soon” — but acknowledging the crucial coming days would be “the real test.”
“I came here, wasn’t feeling so well. I feel much better now,” Trump said from his business suite at Walter Reed military medical center near Washington.
“We’re working hard to get me all the way back… I think I’ll be back soon and I look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started.”
Appearing relaxed in an open-collar blue suit and jacket, Trump acknowledged that there was uncertainty about the course of the disease, which can hit recovering patients hard with no warning.
“I’m starting to feel good. You don’t know over the next period of a few days, I guess that’s the real test, so we’ll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days.”
The largely upbeat report from Trump came after a source familiar with the president’s health — later named in US media as White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — gave a much more worrying assessment.
“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” he said. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”
The White House has not commented officially and Meadows had asked to speak off-the-record before his name appeared as the source in The New York Times and other US outlets.
Earlier Saturday, in the first update from Trump’s doctors since he was admitted to the hospital, physician Sean Conley said the president was mobile and had been fever free for 24 hours, while his cough, nasal congestion and fatigue were improving.
Trump, 74, is not receiving extra oxygen, he added, and is “doing very well.” A second doctor, Sean Dooley, said the president’s cardiac, kidney and liver function were “normal.”
Conley was evasive when asked whether the president had received supplementary oxygen at any point since falling ill, only confirming that he hadn’t received any at the hospital or on Thursday — the day of his positive test.
Several US media outlets said Trump was on oxygen at the White House on Friday before being admitted to Walter Reed.
Source: AFP
