By Brooke Singman | Fox News
President Trump said he will be discharged from Walter Reed Military Medical Center Monday evening and will return to the White House.
"I
will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M,"
Trump tweeted. "Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let
it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some
really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years
ago!"
Trump's comments come just before White House physician
Dr. Sean Conley is set to brief the press on the president's health at 3:00
p.m.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Monday morning
said he was “optimistic” that the president would be discharged from Walter
Reed by Monday afternoon.
“Spoke to the president this morning,” Meadows
said. “He continued to improve overnight and is ready to get back to a
normal working schedule.”
He added that the president “will meet with his doctors
and nurses this morning to make further assessments of his progress.”
Meadows added, “We are still optimistic that he will be
able to return to the White House later today, with his medical professionals
making that determination later today."
The president was admitted to Walter Reed on Friday
evening after experiencing what the White House, at the time, described as
“mild symptoms.”
The president, upon being admitted to Walter Reed, had a
fever, and according to a senior White House official, there was “real concern”
about his “vitals.”
The president also has faced health scares throughout his
battle with COVID-19, including two instances in which his blood oxygen level
dropped suddenly. Doctors treated the president with a dose of the steroid
dexamethasone in response.
A normal blood oxygen reading is between 95 and 100.
Conley said that Trump had a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on
Friday and during “another episode” on Saturday.
But on Saturday, Conley said the president’s cardiac,
kidney and liver functions were normal, and that the president was not on
oxygen and was not having any difficulty breathing or walking.
Conley said over the weekend that the president had
received an antibody cocktail, as well as zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine,
melatonin and a daily aspirin. He also said Trump was taking a five day course
of Remdesivir.
Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested
positive for COVID-19, tweeted Monday, saying she is "feeling good.”
“My family is grateful for all of the prayers &
support!” she tweeted Monday. “I am feeling good & will continue to rest at
home.
"Thank you to medical staff & caretakers
everywhere, & my continued prayers for those who are ill or have a family
member impacted by the virus,” the first lady added.
Also on Monday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh
McEnany announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19.
“After testing negative consistently, including every day
since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on
Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms,” McEnany said in a statement.
“No reporters, producers, or members of the press are listed as close contacts
by the White House Medical Unit.”
Other White House staff who have tested positive for
COVID-19 at this point include senior adviser Hope Hicks and director
of Oval Office operations Nick Luna. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien also tested
positive for COVID-19.
Former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway has
also tested positive and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who
participated in debate prep with the president recently, did too and was
admitted to the hospital over the weekend.
McEnany said Sunday that the White
House would not be releasing the names or the exact number of staffers
who have become infected with the novel coronavirus,
citing privacy concerns.
“There are privacy concerns,” McEnany said. “We take
seriously safeguarding the information of personnel here in the White House.”
The president and first lady announced they tested
positive for COVID-19 early Friday, just before 1:00 a.m., after it was
revealed that Hicks tested positive on Thursday.
Brooke
Singman is a Politics Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSingman.
