CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta: No, Trump Shouldn’t Be in Oval Office While ‘He’s Shedding the Virus’
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with Jake Tapper Wednesday about President Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office and bluntly said the president should not be there right now.
Trump is back in the Oval Office after working in the residence. He is continuing to be treated for the coronavirus. The White House has said they’re taking precautions:
WH is preparing for Trump’s return to Oval, spox tells pooler @meridithmcgraw: “We have ways for him to do that, we have PPE that we can use. And we can interact with him standing back like you’re standing back. And people can wear masks, or goggles or gloves…”
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) October 7, 2020
Gupta said Trump “should be in isolation” right now, explaining, “It’s not an exact science but at least ten days after people start having symptoms is typically the infectious sort of period. They’ve got to assume that he has the virus, he’s shedding the virus, so he is putting, you know, those people who are going to be at risk.”
“Is he wearing a mask? Is there additional ventilation inside there? Are there people within close proximity? Are they wearing personal protective equipment and do they know how to wear it properly?” he asked.
“Even in the hospital we have to train people to put on personal protective equipment properly if they are going to be going into covid units in the hospital,” Gupta continued. “He obviously shouldn’t be in the office. We have been telling people for months if you come back with a positive diagnosis of this you need to be in isolation and that’s the same advice for the president as well.”
“What’s the risk for some who might have been in the room with him even if they were wearing PPE?” Tapper asked.
Gupta said wearing it properly does mitigate the risk, but it “doesn’t make it zero.”
However, he added, “if someone is so cavalier not to wear all of their personal protective equipment around him then I think there is significant risk. It’s not 100 percent by any means, but it’s absolutely something you wouldn’t want to do.”
You can watch above, via CNN.
