BOSTON (WHDH) - A Tufts Medical Center infectious disease expert is weighing in on President Trump’s condition after he insisted Thursday that he is ready to resume campaign rallies and feels “perfect” one week following his diagnosis with the coronavirus.
Dr. Helen Boucher, Chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center, told 7NEWS that not much is known about Trump’s diagnosis but the criteria is clear that anyone who has had COVID-19 must isolate for at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms and they must show no fever for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications.
Saturday marks 10 days since Trump’s diagnosis and Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley said that Trump would be able to safely “return to public engagements” on that day.
With the president’s intentions to return to campaign events, Boucher reminded the public that crowds are still something all Americans should be working to avoid.
“All of us need to take precautions and do the hard work of washing our hands frequently, covering our face when we’re within six feet of anyone with whom we don’t live, maintaining physical distance that’s at least six feet from other people, and avoiding crowds, so indeed crowds are something we still want to be avoiding,” she explained.
Boucher added that Trump’s use of steroids to treat the coronavirus could come with certain side effects.
“Steroids are potent anti-inflammatory medicines and they have significant side effects,” she said. “They can cause things like elevated blood sugar, elevated blood pressure, they can cause sense of elation or feeling very good, they can interrupt sleep, a number of things, so these are serious medicines and we monitor our patients very closely when they are on steroids.”
During a recent telephone interview with Fox Business, Trump said that he was “feeling good. Really good. I think perfect.”
“I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally tonight,” he added. “I don’t think I’m contagious at all.”
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