Trump says he will be discharged from coronavirus hospitalization
05 October 2020
President Trump tweeted Monday that he will be discharged after a three-night hospital stint at Walter Reed Medical Center for coronavirus treatment.
Why it matters: The president, who has a number of risk factors for severe coronavirus symptoms, is still only a few days out from his initial diagnosis and has already had a number of complications. The course of the illness can run for almost two weeks, though it varies from patient to patient, per the CDC.
- Between the lines: The president also has a team of doctors and a helicopter on call.
What he's saying: "I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. 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!" the president tweeted.
- Brian Garibaldi, a Johns Hopkins University doctor assisting in Trump's treatment, had hinted Sunday that the president could be discharged while continuing his treatment course.
Zoom in: Trump experienced two "transient" episodes in which his oxygen saturation levels dropped and he received supplemental oxygen in the past few days, White House physician Sean Conley said on Sunday.
- Conley said that Trump also received dexamethasone — a steroid that has been found to significantly reduce the risk of death among patients who are on a ventilator but provides more limited benefit for patients on supplemental oxygen.
The big picture: Information on the actual state of Trump's health has been muddled amid conflicting statements this weekend from White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Conley.
- White House aides have been dismayed and befuddled by a lack of internal communication on the protocols following Trump's diagnosis.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.