With President Donald Trump hospitalized for Covid-19, more cases are beginning to emerge in the White House and in his close circles.
Here’s what you need to know:
Who has been infected: Trump, first lady Melania Trump, top aide Hope Hicks, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, and Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Mike Lee have all tested positive.
The timeline: Hicks first felt symptoms on Wednesday night, and tested positive by Thursday morning. Trump was tested Thursday evening, and announced his results early Friday morning. Tillis, Lee, Stepien and Conway all announced their results on Friday. By Friday afternoon, Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed.
Trump’s treatment: According to Trump’s physician, the President has received the Regeneron antibody cocktail, an experimental drug that has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. He has also received the antiviral drug remdesivir, which has emergency use authorization from the FDA, and has been shown to shorten recovery time for some coronavirus patients.
Trump is also taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin.
Fever and fatigue: It was reported Friday that President Trump had a fever, according to a person familiar to the matter. The person said the fever remains consistent with the White House’s earlier description of “mild symptoms.” This is in addition to new information released by the White House doctor, which described Trump as “fatigued.”
In the President’s own words: “I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support,” Trump said in a video posted to his official Twitter account. “I think I’m doing very well but we’re going to make sure things work out.”
An outpouring of well wishes: China’s President Xi Jinping on Saturday joined the dozens of world leaders and figures wishing President Trump a speedy recovery.
Questions arising: As the White House scrambles to respond to the cluster, experts and doctors are also raising questions about the timeline of Trump’s infection, and how we got here in the first place.
If he was being tested every day, how did nobody realize Trump had been exposed sooner? If officials knew of Hicks’ diagnosis by Thursday morning, why wasn’t Trump tested until that night? And what exactly is Trump’s condition, given that the White House has released mixed messages — saying at first that he was energetic and staying at the White House, then saying later that day he was fatigued and going to the hospital?
“These are critical questions that must be answered — that should’ve been answered already,” said CNN’s Don Lemon on Friday night.
