‘Don’t be afraid’ of Covid-19, says Donald Trump on return to White House

President Donald Trump told Americans “to get out there” and not fear Covid-19 as he returned to the White House on Monday after a three-night hospital stays to be treated for the virus and removed his white surgical mask to pose for pictures.

Asked how he felt on arrival at the White House, Trump said, “Real good,” according to a pool report by a journalist covering his return on behalf of other media.

Trump wore a mask as he walked out of the helicopter that flew him back from a military hospital outside Washington and climbed the stairs of the White House South Portico, where he removed it and posed for pictures, waving, saluting, and giving thumbs-up signs.

He then turned to walk into the White House, his mask still in his pocket, TV footage showed.

The Republican president, running for re-election against Democrat Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 US election, was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday after being diagnosed with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

“Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it,” Trump said in a recorded video message.

“We’re going back, we’re going back to work. We’re going to be out front. Don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there, be careful," he added.

The disease has killed more than 1 million people worldwide and more than 209,000 in the United States alone - the highest death toll of any country.

Trump, 74, has not had a fever in more than 72 hours and his oxygen levels are normal, his medical team told reporters in front of the hospital. The doctors declined, however, to discuss any toll the disease could have on the president’s lungs or disclose when Trump last tested negative for the coronavirus.

The team added that the president had received supplemental oxygen twice in recent days.

Dr. Sean. P. Conley, the White House physician, said, “He may not entirely be out of the woods yet".

“If we can get through to Monday with him remaining the same or improving, better yet, then we will all take that final, deep sigh of relief," Dr added.

But Conley said the medical team believed Trump was ready to leave the hospital, stressing he would have world-class medical care around the clock at the White House.

Conley said doctors were in “uncharted territory” because Trump had received certain therapies so early in the course of the illness.

The severity of Trump’s illness has been the subject of intense speculation, with some medical experts noting that, as an overweight, elderly man, he was in a category more likely to develop severe complications or die from the disease.

Doctors also have been treating him with a steroid, dexmethasone, that is normally used only in the most severe cases.