The US president briefly left hospital, ahead of his third night of treatment, so he could wave to the crowd
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, went on a drive-by for supporters, while still receiving treatment for COVID-19, which has been criticised as “insanity” by a top US doctor.
Mr Trump, 74, briefly left where he is being treated for COVID-19, at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland on Sunday, so that he could greet the supporting crowds waiting outside of the hospital.
The President sat in an armoured SUV, while wearing a face mask, and waved to the people standing outside of the hospital as he was driven along the road to cheers and flag-waving.
This comes after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and Democratic presidential challenger, Joe Biden, engaged in the first US presidential debate before the election, with heated exchanges over COVID-19, race relations and election integrity.
The Chief of disaster medicine for George Washington University and an attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Centre, Dr James Phillips, has described the presidential drive-by as “insanity”.
He wrote on Twitter: “That presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”
“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.”
Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, tweeted: “By taking a joy ride outside Walter Reed the president is placing his Secret Service detail at grave risk.”
“In the hospital when we go into close contact with a COVID patient we dress in full PPE: Gown, gloves, N95, eye protection, hat. This is the height of irresponsibility.”
“His doctors should have said no. They need to stand up for what is right. This is wrong.”
My Trump also described his coronavirus treatment as a “very interesting journey”, adding: “I learned a lot about COVID.”
“I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn’t the ‘let’s read the books’ school. And I get it, and I understand it. And it’s a very interesting thing.”
This comes after Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, had reportedly paid only $750 in federal income taxes in the year that he was elected the President of the United States, according to a New York Times investigation that could potentially shake up the US presidential election.
The doctor said he had been “trying to reflect the upbeat attitude of the team” and “didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction”.
This is a turnaround for the US President who has spent much of his time playing down the pandemic and even mocking those who wore masks in an effort to protect themselves, as well as those around them, including his rival in the next presidential election, Joe Biden.
The number of those who have now died due to the coronavirus in the United States is now approaching 210,000 fatalities, with the number of confirmed cases in the nation having passed 7.4 million.
