Trump’s Doctor Says President ‘No Longer Considered A Transmission Risk’
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White House physician Dr. Sean Conley announced Saturday evening that President Donald Trump is “no longer considered a transmission risk” a week after testing positive for Covid-19 and requiring a temporary hospitalization.
“This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the president meeting 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,” Conley wrote in the memo addressed to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
“The assortment of advanced diagnostics tests obtained reveal there is no longer evidence of actively replicating virus,” Conley continued.
JUST IN: Dr. Sean Conley says Trump “is no longer considered a transmission risk to others” based on a PCR test conducted this morning pic.twitter.com/zWiLvaLCRb
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) October 11, 2020
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump both contracted the virus last week. Following his diagnosis, the president was airlifted to Walter Reed hospital where he stayed until his dramatic release on Monday.
Conley’s announcement comes after Trump had his first public appearance on Saturday since returning to the White House from the hospital. Speaking on the White House balcony to hundreds of supporters, the president immediately took off his mask after stepping up to the podium.
Medical experts told the New York Times the following:
Several experts expressed skepticism at the wording describing Mr. Trump’s diagnostic tests, which did not explicitly categorize the president as “negative” for the coronavirus. P.C.R., a laboratory technique that detects the virus’s genetic material, can give researchers a rough sense of how much virus remains within a person’s body, or the viral load. Dr. Conley’s note suggested Mr. Trump’s viral load was dropping, but appeared to still be detectable.
