President Trump Is Shaping His Medical Treatment. That Could Be Dangerous
There’s plenty we don’t know about U.S. President Donald Trump’s battle with COVID-19, including the condition of his lungs and exactly when he first tested positive. But if one thing is clear, it’s that the President is playing a leading role in shaping the course of his own treatment, as my colleague Brian Bennett writes. That could be dangerous both for Trump and the country more broadly.
As news emerged that Trump is receiving an unusual mix of drugs—including an experimental drug cocktail and medicines typically used for the very ill—some experts asserted that Trump may be suffering from “VIP syndrome,” wherein a powerful patient demands and receives unproven, unnecessary and potentially risky treatments veering from the typical standard of care. But Trump is no ordinary VIP: he’s the most famous COVID-19 patient in the world, and his treatment strategy will likely influence countless others. The question is not only if such an aggressive treatment strategy, combined with a speedy discharge from the hospital, will help or harm Trump, but whether his approach will help or harm future coronavirus patients who look to the President for guidance on how to handle their own illnesses.
If a patient sick with COVID-19, for example, demands the same treatment Trump has received but their doctors balk at the request, it could lead to a breakdown of trust. Whether patients trust healthcare workers is no small matter—mistrust of the medical establishment has been linked to a reluctance towards preventative care (including vaccination) and failure to take prescribed medications. It’s also simply harder for any given doctor to treat somebody who’s skeptical of what they’re doing.
The dearth of information we’re getting about the President’s condition means it’s hard to judge from the outside whether Trump’s treatment is even right for him, let alone anybody else. But there will no doubt be people who demand the same medicines the President has received, and many doctors will likely turn them down—not least because some of those medications, while promising, haven’t been thoroughly vetted. Knowing the drugs in the President’s medicine cabinet, but not the contents of his medical chart, could be a dangerous combination.
Nearly 35.5 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 1 million people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Oct. 5, there were 325,411 new cases and 7,004 new deaths confirmed globally. Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here is every country with over 400,000 confirmed cases to date ("per cap" is number per 100,000 people):
The coronavirus may have infected 10% of the world’s population, World Health Organization emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said at a WHO board meeting yesterday, the Associated Press reports. That estimate is about 20 times the number of recorded cases. The estimate suggests “the vast majority of the world remains at risk,” Ryan said, adding that the world is approaching “a difficult period”—especially as cases rise across Europe and Southeast Asia.
This morning, however, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered a bit of reassurance: he said there’s “hope” that there could be a vaccine by the end of this year, according to the Washington Post. A number of vaccines are in the works across the world, though production and distribution means widespread vaccination isn’t likely to happen until late 2021 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, several countries announced this week that they’re adding new measures to curb viral spread. Officials in Iran, which recently hit a record of 4,151 new daily cases, said today that face masks will be required in the capital of Tehran, Reuters reports. In Belgium, leaders are banning gatherings of more than four people. Italy is also considering making face masks mandatory outdoors, the New York Times reports.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded nearly 7.5 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 210,000 people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Oct. 5, there were 39,557 new cases and 460 new deaths confirmed in the U.S. Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
U.S. President Donald Trump is back in the White House after being released yesterday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. While COVID-19 is notoriously unpredictable—the President’s physician said yesterday that Trump isn’t “out of the woods”—Trump triumphantly ripped off his face mask for the cameras, then declared in a video that he’s “better” and possibly even “immune” from the virus, an unsubstantiated claim. Trump added this morning that he’s looking forward to the next presidential debate, set for Oct. 15 in Miami. Meanwhile, Trump’s laid-back attitude to the virus could be putting more people at the White House at risk—including members of the Secret Service and the workers who maintain his residence, the Associated Press reports.
The U.S. Food Administration has publicly posted its new COVID-19 vaccine safety standards despite a move by the White House to block them, the AP reports. The FDA is advising vaccine manufacturers to monitor trial participants for at least two months after injection to make sure the vaccine is safe—a timeline that would make a pre-election vaccine all but impossible.
Relaxing social distancing measures too soon undercut states’ ability to slow the pandemic, according to new research published Saturday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. After analyzing the social distancing measures implemented by U.S. states from March 10 to July 15, researchers found that transmission rose after such measures were lifted. However, states that weathered more severe outbreaks had less of an increase, suggesting that people in those areas are still distancing and following other guidelines, even when they aren't mandatory.
Movie fans are in for a lot of disappointment this year: Reports emerged yesterday that two of this year’s biggest planned releases, The Batman and Dune, have been bumped to 2021; the next James Bond film, No Time to Die, is also getting delayed. That’s bad news for already-struggling theater chains—while AMC says it’s planning to keep theaters open, competitors Regal Cinemas and Cineworld have announced major closures.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of October 6, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Reaching Out to People From the Past
Amid the pandemic and the California wildfires, author Nayomi Munaweera has been reflecting on the people who played starring roles in her past but have since dropped out of touch. She wrote thankful emails to seven of them—and many replied. Read more here.
The Pandemic Has Undermined Tools for Reducing Violence
Many types of crime are down during the coronavirus pandemic, but shootings and homicides are up across the country. An added dilemma: some of the social organizations and programs meant to reduce violent crime have had to close or scale back because of the outbreak, the New York Times reports. Read more here.
CDC Acknowledges the Virus Is Airborne
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention affirmed yesterday what many scientists and public health officials have long believed to be true: the coronavirus can linger in the air and infect people even if they’re more than six feet from a contagious person. Read more here.
The Pandemic DIY Craze
Many Americans spending more time at home during the pandemic have embraced various do-it-yourself projects, The Atlantic reports. Some just want something to do, others want to mix up their tired surroundings, and still others are just looking for comfort in uncertain times. Read more here.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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