Physician to the president, Dr. Sean Conley, said Wednesday afternoon that President Donald Trump has continued to improve since he was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, and has now gone 24 hours without exhibiting any symptoms.
“The president this morning says ‘I feel great!’ His physical exams and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range,” said Dr. Conley in a letter shared by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “He’s now been fever-free for more than 4 days, symptom free for over 24 hours, and has not needed nor received any supplemental oxygen since initial hospitalization.”
The physician indicated that Trump showed “detectable levels of SARS-C0V-2 IgG antibodies from labs” drawn Monday, which he referred to as a notable development, as his antibody levels were undetectable at the time of diagnosis.
“We’ll continue to closely monitor, and I will update you as I know more,” he concluded.
A Wednesday update from President @realDonaldTrump’s physician: pic.twitter.com/IEn3Clv9yg
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) October 7, 2020
During the course of his treatment, Trump received several drugs, including dexamethasone, Remdesivir, and a Regeneron antibody cocktail, an experimental coronavirus treatment option that has reportedly shown promising results.
Regeneron told CNN on Wednesday that it is likely Trump’s antibody lab results were detecting the antibodies from the coronavirus treatment, and not any antibodies produced from his body, because of the timing between his treatment and the test.
Most of the standard assays for IgG would not distinguish between endogenous (self-made) antibodies and the ones delivered by our therapy. However, given the volume of IgG antibodies delivered in our therapy, and the timing of these tests, it is likely that the second test is detecting REGN-COV2 antibodies.
Our early data announced last week shows that the patients most likely to benefit from this treatment have a similar profile to President Trump, in that they had undetectable antibodies at baseline (‘seronegative’) and were early in the course of disease. Treatment with REGN-COV2 had the greatest impact in viral load reduction and time to symptom alleviation in this seronegative group. We also know by looking at the placebo groups that these seronegative patients were at a much higher risk of requiring further medical attention than ‘seropositive’ patients when untreated with therapeutic antibodies.
Trump returned to the White House to continue working as of Monday evening but hadn’t yet started working from the Oval Office. As of Wednesday afternoon, the president has moved into the Oval Office and has received a briefing on the stimulus talks and Hurricane Delta, which is reportedly on a trajectory for Louisiana.
According to CBS News, chief of staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday that the White House was prepared for Trump to work from the Oval Office with precautions in place, including a requirement that any staff who come into contact with the president wear protective gear, including a gown, gloves, a mask, and eye protection.