ILLUSTRATION. Donald Trump left the military hospital where he was being treated in a motorcade on Sunday. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts
Source: Reuters | Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie
KONTAN.CO.ID – WASHINGTON. US President Donald Trump left the military hospital where he was being treated for Covid-19 in a motorcade on Sunday to wave to supporters gathered outside. The action sparked criticism that he put others at risk of being exposed to Covid-19.
Launch ReutersIn a widely circulated video, Trump appears to be waving from the backseat of a black SUV on Sunday night. He appeared to be wearing a mask as many of his supporters cheered and waved the American flag. Also visible were supporters carrying pro-Trump banners outside the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the outskirts of Washington in Bethesda, Maryland.
According to Reuters, patients who test positive for Covid-19 generally have to be quarantined for 14 days, the typical incubation period for the coronavirus to avoid infecting others. The disease has killed more than 200,000 Americans.
Trump tested positive on Thursday and did not reveal the infection until the early hours of Friday.
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Shortly before that brief trip, Trump posted a video on Twitter saying he would “give a little surprise to some of the great patriots we have on the streets.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere described the trip as “a brief, last-minute motorcade trip to wave to supporters” and said Trump was quickly returning to his hospital room.
Deere said “appropriate precautions have been taken” before the trip to protect the President and those who support him. “The movement was permitted by the medical team because it is safe to do so,” he told Reuters.
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Criticism also came from various parties, including from a doctor who treated at Walter Reed.
