Washington, (Samajweekly) US President Donald Trump has received regular testing for COVID-19, with results “all negative to date”, the White House has said.
In a memo on Monday, White House physician Sean Conley said that Trump “is in very good health and has remained symptom-free”, reports Xinhua news agency.
Trump has been tested for the novel coronavirus every day after one of his personal valets at the White House was infected about two weeks ago.
The memo was released hours after Trump told reporters that he has taken hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug frequently touted by him as a potential cure against the coronavirus.
“A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it,” said Trump, adding that he’s taking it on a daily basis.
“All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK.”
“You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers before you catch it, the frontline workers, many, many are taking it,” he told reporters.
Asked what was his evidence of hydroxychloroquine’s positive benefits, Trump said: “Here’s my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it.”
“I’ve heard a lot of good stories (about hydroxychloroquine) and if it’s not good, I’ll tell you right I’m not going to get hurt by it.”
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned as recently as late April against the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 “outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems”.
“Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19,” the FDA said.
“They are being studied in clinical trials for COVID-19.”
Conley, however, said that he and Trump “concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks” after their “numerous” discussions regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine.
“In consultation with our inter-agency partners and subject matter experts around the country, I continued to monitor the myriad studies investigating potential COVID-19 therapies, and I anticipate employing the same shared medical decision making based on the evidence at hand in the future,” Conley added.
According to doctors, the drug has the potential to cause symptoms including heart failure, suicidal thoughts and signs of liver disease, said a BBC report.
Two recent studies, each involving around 1,400 COVID-19 patients in New York, did not find any benefits from hydroxychloroquine.
Another study by French researchers involved 84 hospital patients taking the drug and 97 others who received standard care.
It concluded hydroxychloroquine had no impact for better or worse.
Last month, the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists issued a joint statement opposing the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 prevention.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a CNN interview on Monday night, urged Trump to be more cautious about taking the drug.
“He’s our President and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists,” said the California Democrat.
