Just six days after testing positive for COVID-19, President Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office for work.
White House spokesperson Brian Morgenstern told reporters on Wednesday that the president was in the Oval Office and received a briefing on Hurricane Delta.
Earlier in the day, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said that Trump has not experienced COVID-19 symptoms in over 24 hours.
Morgenstern told reporters that Trump wants to deliver an address to the nation. He also said the president had made a video but did not reveal when it would be released.
“He wants to speak to the American people, and he will do so soon,” Morgenstern said, adding, “I don’t have an exact time or a definite way he’ll do that, but as you’ve seen, there have been Twitter videos that are [a] pretty easy and effective way for him to get out.”
US Marine stands guard outside the West Wing, which usually means the President is in the building. pic.twitter.com/MCHyB3V7YT
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 7, 2020
When asked about how safe it was for Trump to work out of the Oval Office so soon after testing positive for the virus, Morgenstern said, “Well, we can do it in a safe way. We can disinfect regularly. There’s certainly ways to do it without compromising anyone.”
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows previously told reporters that Trump was eager to return to the Oval Office and stressed that the White House had established safety procedures to facilitate that.
“We’ve got a number of safety protocols with full PPE, masks, goggles, and the like for any direct interaction with the president in those areas,” Meadows said.
Trump returned to the White House after a three-day stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to testing positive for the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that adults who contract the virus should isolate from other people. The agency’s guidance says that “most persons with COVID-19 illness, isolation and precautions can generally be discontinued 10 days after symptom onset.”
