President Donald Trump is expected to depart shortly for Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, after experiencing a low-grade fever, chills, nasal congestion and cough, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell ABC News.
He and first lady Melania Trump have been in isolation after announcing overnight that they tested positive for COVID-19.
While it is not clear how Trump, 74, contracted COVID-19, the news came hours after it was revealed that one of his closest advisers, Hope Hicks, had also tested positive. Hicks traveled with Trump to Ohio for the debate on Tuesday and to Minnesota for a rally on Wednesday.
Trump, 74, was going to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, in what aides said was a precautionary move. Officials said they expected him to be there for a few days.
The president's diagnosis, which he tweeted just before 1 a.m. on Friday, sent shockwaves through Washington and across the country, causing markets to plummet just weeks before the presidential election.
The president received a single 8 gram dose of Regeneron's polyclonal antibody cocktail as a precautionary measure, according to a memo from White House physician Dr. Sean Conley. The antibody cocktail is being studied in four late-stage clinical trials and its safety and efficacy have not been fully evaluated by any regulatory authority, the company said on its page.
The president also has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin, Conley said.
"As of this afternoon, the President remains fatigued but in good spirits," Conley said, according to the memo.
Conley said the first lady was experiencing only a "mild cough and headache." He added that other members of the president's family are well and tested negative for COVID-19.
Trump has not posted to his Twitter account since announcing his diagnosis, an uncharacteristic move for a president who frequently tweets and retweets throughout the day.
"We’re having to hold him back a little here because he is hard at work," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News on Friday afternoon.
Source: USA Today
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