Shafaq news/ Trump revealed via Twitter yesterday that he and first-lady Melania Trump had both tested positive for the virus after they took a test following the announcement that senior aid Hope Hicks had contracted Covid-19.
White House physician, Dr Sean Conley, said that the president was “fatigued but in good spirits.”
In a follow up, Dr. Conley said that Trump was “doing very well and not requiring any supplemental oxygen.”
He added that the president is being treated with the anti-viral drug Remdesivir, used in the US to shorten patient’s hospital stays.
The drug was created in 2009 by Gilead Sciences Inc and was originally proposed for treating hepatitis C, however scientists incidentally discovered that Remdesivir was effective for treating many other viral infections.
In 2014, the drug was studied as a possible treatment for Ebola and found to be useful against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) as well as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Both viruses are structurally similar to Covid-19.
Subsequently, scientific experts have warned that Remdesivir is no “silver bullet” and its effectiveness is widely debated.
The White House also confirmed doctors gave President Trump a single 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s experimental antibody therapy to treat Covid-19.
Trump is also taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin.