Trump being taken to hospital after taking coronavirus drugs cocktail for fever, fatigue and cough

White House moving president to Walter Reed medical centre ‘out of an abundance of caution’ following coronavirus diagnosis

Donald Trump will be moved to Walter Reed Medical Centre following a positive coronavirus diagnosis and drug treatment.

The president will visit the hospital as a “precautionary measure” for the next few days, according to the White House.

His physician reported that the president has been administered a dose of experimental Regeneron treatment, a polyclonal antibody cocktail, and is “fatigued but in good spirits” with a slight fever, congestion and a cough, according to reports.

“President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day," press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”

The president announced on Twitter late on Thursday that he tested positive for Covid-19 along with First Lady Melania Trump.

Two hours earlier, the president announced that senior aide Hope Hicks had tested positive, hours after the president held an event at his New Jersey golf club and travelled to Minnesota for a fundraiser and a rally on Wednesday.

At a virtual address to the Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on Thursday night, an annual high-profile fundraiser for Catholic charities, the president echoed in his remarks his optimistic and misleading statements about the state of the public health crisis that have charged his rhetoric at campaign rallies and at the White House.

He said that a vaccine, of which there are several in late-stage clinical trials, is “on track” to be developed and distributed  “before the end of the year, and maybe substantially before.”

“I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight, and next year will be one of the greatest years in the history of our country,” he said.

Several other Republican officials announced their positive diagnosis on Friday, including Senator Mike Lee and GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

The president’s Marine One helicopter landed at the White House at 5.30pm on Friday.

According to his physician’s memo, the president is also taking vitamin D, zinc, melatonin, a daily aspirin and an antacid.

His presidential campaign, with Election Day just a month away, has postponed all upcoming events, including two rallies scheduled for this weekend, as Trump officials sparred with the Commission on Presidential Debates over proposed rules for additional “structure” to upcoming debates after a chaotic opener on Tuesday.

Vice president Mike Pence, who could assume presidential duties if Mr Trump became too ill to perform them, tested negative on Friday. He has returned to Washington DC.

His physician said he is “not considered a close contact with any individuals who have tested positive” and “does not need to quarantine” despite health guidelines that urge anyone to self-isolate for 14 days following the initial point of contact with an infected person.

The statement suggests that Mr Pence has not been in close contact with any administration official or staff who has also been in close contact with the president, First Lady or Ms Hicks, though Mr Pence attended a coronavirus briefing at the White House Rose Garden on Monday and reportedly met with the president on Tuesday, two days before the president revealed a positive diagnosis, and placing him within the threshold for quarantine.

He is scheduled to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah on Monday ahead of his debate on Wednesday against his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.

In remarks on Friday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said the president’s diagnosis serves as a “bracing reminder" for the need to take seriously an illness that has killed more than 200,000 Americans.

“This is not a matter of politics,” he said from Michigan. "It's not going away automatically. We have to do our part.”