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Trump says he's leaving hospital Monday; White House hit by wave of infections

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - 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 U.S. election.
Reuters
US President Trump at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda epa08721426 A handout photo released by the White House shows US President Donald J. Trump during a phone call with US Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, from his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, 04 October 2020. EPA-EFE/THE WHITE HOUSE / TIA DUFOUR / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

By Steve Holland and Susan Heavey

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 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT).

"I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. 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 3 p.m. 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.

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan, Andrea Shalal, Susan Heavey, Lisa Lambert and Tim Ahmann; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Alistair Bell and Howard Goller)

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