Trump’s doctor says president “no longer” a transmission risk

Washington, US | Xinhua | U.S. President Donald Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 1, is “no longer considered a transmission risk to others,” his doctor said on Saturday as the president prepared to resume campaign rallies.

In a new memo on the president’s status, White House physician Sean Conley wrote that he made the assessment following a COVID PCR sample in the morning by “currently recognized standards,” but did not disclose when Trump last had a negative test result.

“Now at day 10 from symptom onset, fever-free for well over 24 hours and all symptoms improved, the assortment of advanced diagnostic tests obtained revealed there is no longer evidence of actively replicating virus,” Conley said of the president, promising to continue to monitor the president clinically “as he returns to an active schedule.”

The 74-year-old tested positive for the virus on Oct. 1 and was later hospitalized for three days before returning to the White House with continued treatment.

In the wake of Trump’s infection, a number of White House staff have also confirmed positive for the virus.

Top U.S. expert Anthony Fauci on Friday identified a White House ceremony unveiling president’s Supreme Court nominee on Sept. 26, as “a super-spreader event” for COVID-19.

After completing a therapy and being medically cleared by Conley, Trump made his first public appearance since infection at the White House on Saturday afternoon by addressing hundreds of supporters from the Truman Balcony.

“I’m feeling great,” the president said, while declaring COVID-19 is “disappearing” in the Untied States despite that dozens of states are reporting rising numbers of cases.

Over the past week, there have been an average of 47,782 cases per day in the United States, an increase of 12 percent from the average two weeks ago, according to a tally by The New York Times.

The virus has infected more than 7.7 million people and killed 214,370 in the country, showed a dashboard run by Johns Hopkins University.

Trump will hit the presidential campaign trail on Monday with a rally in Sanford, Florida.

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