Former President Trump Was Way More Sick with COVID-19 than Officially Announced

Former President Donald Trump's struggle with COVID-19 was "far more serious" than the public knew, and officials leapfrogged protocol for an experimental drug treatment not available to other Americans, according to a new book by Washington Post reporters.

Trump became "terribly ill" last October after several events, according to excerpts from "Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History."

"His fever spiked, and his blood oxygen level fell below 94 percent, at one point dipping into the 80s. ... Trump was given oxygen in an effort to stabilize him" before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, according to excerpts Thursday in the Post.

US Food and Drug Administration was worried that an unproven drug presented a risk for Trump. He was in the "highest-risk category for severe disease from COVID-19 — at 74, he rarely exercised and was considered medically obese,". But the call to use a monoclonal antibody — and several other emergency drugs — proved to be the right decision, and Trump recovered.

US scientists, leading the fight against COVID-19  at the time, "prayed" that Trump would "emerge from the experience with a newfound appreciation for the seriousness of the threat," according to the authors.

They hoped Trump would urge all Americans to listen to public health experts "before it was too late."

Instead, Trump emerged from the experience ever more defiant. He urged people not to be afraid of the virus or let it dominate their lives, disregarding that he had had access to health care and treatments unavailable to other Americans./yahoo