Trump and COVID

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Getty Images

Nathan Kim

President Donald Trump recently announced via Twitter that he had caught the Coronavirus last Friday on October 2, 2020. This announcement followed the first presidential debate of the general election. The president also announced that he would be admitted into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center just hours later. But even after his treatment many have criticized him for taking risks and not correctly distancing himself from other people.

His treatment started on October 2, and ended in a matter of four days. His treatment consisted of the use of the steroid Dexamethasone. Ending on October 6, President Trump took to Twitter and revealed that he had “learned so much about the Coronavirus” and also stated that you “shouldn’t be afraid of COVID” or “let it dominate your life”. These tweets caused a lot of controversy and sparked a heated discussion online with many people outraged at President Trump.

This also followed the incident where the president decided to have a motorcade photo op while still in treatment. On Sunday(October 4), Trump decided to leave the hospital and cruise around in a SUV waving to his supporters with the Secret Service still inside. With the SUV not only being bulletproof, but also sealed off against a chemical attack, the chance of transmission is incredibly high. Dr. James Phillips, a non-military attending physician at Walter Reed National Medical Center, took to Twitter saying, “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity.”

After his treatment finished, he left the hospital and returned to the White House. Trump has also continued his rallies amidst his recovery process. In one of his rallies in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he has repeatedly claimed that he is immune to the virus and that everyone else who has also previously contracted the COVID-19 virus is also immune.

“And now I’m immune, they tell me I’m immune. I could come down and start kissing everybody.” – President Donald Trump at the Johnstown, Pennsylvania. (Tom Gralish)

In spite of the swirling controversy and amid conflicting opinions, President Trump has recovered from his COVID-19 diagnosis and is returning back to normalcy, even as many continue to debate the wisdom of these decisions.