President Donald Trump unexpectedly left the hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19 to greet supporters on October 4. Trump waved to them from his motorcade in a bid to demonstrate strength while yearning to return to the campaign trail. He then returned to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, where he is treated.
The move has been seen as the President’s disregard to basic precautions to contain the virus that has killed more than 2,09,000 Americans.
Yet, Trump thought it was okay to step out of the hospital in an enclosed SUV with around two people with him which can put members of the Secret Services at risk unnecessarily.
Hours earlier, Trump’s medical team reported that his blood oxygen level dropped suddenly twice in recent days and that they gave him a steroid typically only recommended for the critical patients.
The doctors also said Trump’s health is improving and that he could be discharged as early as Monday. Yet new disclosures about his treatment raise concern that his condition is more serious than what the American public has been told.
In a video released on Twitter around the same time, Trump said he’s “learned a lot” about the coronavirus while undergoing treatment. “This is the real school,” he said. “And I get it. And I understand it.” His outing, he said, was meant to “pay a little surprise” to his supporters.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Trump has downplayed the risks of the virus. Despite World Health Organisation and Center of Diseases Control repeatedly issues warnings on the prevention, Trump ignored it all and even mocked the use of mask. The first time Trump was spotted wearing a mask in public was in July when the pandemic had already affected 3.2 million Americans.
