The contrast between Trump and Biden to face the covid-19 6:12
(CNN) ––
The condition of former President Donald Trump after testing positive for covid-19 became so worrying last October that it was considered to put him on an artificial respirator, according to what the then president told a person at the time.
This detail raises questions about whether the former president's condition was worse than what officials were willing to publicly acknowledge.
A fact that
The New York Times
reported for the first time in detail this Thursday.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump Test Positive for COVID-19 (October 2, 2020)
CNN reported in October that when Trump was airlifted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he not only had trouble breathing, but had also received supplemental oxygen.
Trump "has definitely received oxygen," the source knowingly told CNN.
The former president's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, rambled on the subject on that occasion.
And he mentioned that Trump "is not taking oxygen right now."
When asked if the president had received it, Conley did not respond directly.
"You didn't need any this morning or today," he replied.
Asked whether he had ever received supplemental oxygen as part of his COVID-19 treatment, Conley also did not answer directly.
"Right now he is not receiving (the oxygen)."
And he added: "Yesterday and today he did not receive oxygen."
Trump resumes his public activities 3:59
The New York Times
also reported that Trump was found to have pulmonary infiltrates, "which occur when the lungs are inflamed and contain substances such as fluids or bacteria.
Its presence, especially when a patient has other symptoms, can be a sign of an acute case of the disease.
They can be easily detected on an X-ray or scan, when parts of the lungs appear cloudy or white. '
The newspaper added that Trump's oxygen level dropped to 80. Conley repeatedly evaded reporters in the face of questions about his condition and whether he had received oxygen.
He only told reporters once that Trump's levels had recovered that they had never been in the "low 80s."
advertising
ANALYSIS |
Trump is hospitalized with covid-19, but he still does not take the pandemic seriously (2020)
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, said Conley's failure to disclose the data is disturbing.
"It's disturbing because I felt that Dr. Conley at the time was clearly evasive and misleading," Jha told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday.
“It would have been so much better if Dr. Conley and the White House had been transparent and open with the American people.
This rather than what we hear from them.
So of course it was very disappointing… It's all very pitiful, ”Jha pointed out.
Melania Trump details her covid-19 disease and reveals that her son Barron was infected
Mark Meadows, who was the White House secretary general, rallied reporters following an upbeat medical report from Conley.
In private he told them: “The president's vital signs during the last 24 hours were very worrying.
And the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of your care.
We are not yet on a clear path to a full recovery.
As for Melania Trump's condition, someone familiar with the then-first lady's treatment said she never took Regeneron's then-experimental antibody therapy.
This was one of the treatments her husband received.
The source said it took "a long, long time" for her to get better, but she insisted on letting the virus run its course.
He added that Melania Trump treated her symptoms with holistic medications, such as herbal teas.
Also that he did not take anything stronger than the over-the-counter pain reliever.
Kate Bennett and Andrea Diaz, both from CNN, contributed to this report.
Covid-19 respirators