US President Donald Trump says he's leaving hospital Monday

By
Reuters
US President Donald Trump waves as walks on the South Lawn of the White House upon his return to Washington, U.S., from the G20 Summit in Hamburg. — Reuters/Files

WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said he felt "really good" and will leave a military hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19 later on Monday, despite a wave of infections that have hit his White House four weeks before the US election.

Trump, who announced on Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington later that day, said he would leave the facility at 6:30pm EDT (2230 GMT).

"I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30pm 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!" he said on Twitter.

Trump, 74, was running a high fever and was given supplemental oxygen after his blood oxygen levels dropped on Friday, according to his White House physician, Dr Sean P Conley. Doctors have been treating him with a steroid, dexmethasone, that is normally used only in the most severe cases.

Conley is due to provide an update on the Republican president's condition at 3pm EDT (1900 GMT), a White House official said.

Trump was reluctant to go the hospital last week and is eager to get out, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier on Monday.