Washington: President Donald Trump has several strikes against him age, obesity, elevated cholesterol and being male that could put him at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus infection he disclosed early Friday.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive, are both well at this time and plan to remain at the White House while recovering and being closely monitored, according to a statement from his physician, Dr. Sean Conley.
A White House official said Friday that Trump was having mild symptoms.
The odds are far and away that he’ll have a mild illness as most people with the virus do, said Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic who has no role in Trump’s care.
But COVID-19 is very unpredictable, he stressed. We have young people who die. We have nursing home patients, a lot of them, who actually do quite well, Poland said.
No treatments have proven effective for preventing illness in someone who is infected but with no or mild symptoms. That includes hydroxychloroquine, a drug Trump long promoted and even took himself earlier this year after a White House staffer tested positive for the virus.
–Agencies

KR Desk