Fauci refuses to comment on safety of Trump’s Walter Reed hospital drive-by

'I don't want to really go there John,' says infectious diseases expert

Dr Anthony Fauci has refused to comment on president Donald Trump’s decision to leave the Walter Reed Medical Centre briefly on Sunday to wave at supporters from a car, amid his treatment for Covid-19.

Mr Trump was hospitalised on Friday evening as a precaution after he showed symptoms for coronavirus, following a positive Covid-19 test result a few hours earlier.

After nearly two days in the facility, Mr Trump was driven around outside the medical centre by his protective detail, as he waved to his supporters who had waited for him since his admission to the hospital.

Pictured in the vehicle with Mr Trump were two members of his protective detail wearing face masks and eye protection, while the president was also seen with a face covering in the back seat of the car.

The decision was criticised by health experts, and the two members of his protective detail in the vehicle have been forced to quarantine for two weeks after being in close contact with the president.

On Monday, CNN host John Berman asked Dr Fauci, one of the country's top infectious disease experts and part of the US government's coronavirus task force, if it was safe for Mr Trump to leave the medical centre for the short trip.

“I don't want to really go there, John, and comment on that, OK?” the 79-year-old said on Monday.

President Trump started showing coronavirus symptoms and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 just three days before he briefly left the medical centre, and earlier in the interview on Monday Dr Fauci was asked how long someone infected with coronavirus needs to quarantine for. 

Dr Fauci replied: “The general guidelines are when is it safe for a person to go out from the time they get symptoms is probably around 10 days from the onset of symptoms.”

Several Secret Service agents speaking under anonymity have criticised president Trump for the short trip outside the facility on Sunday, and one official told the Washington Post: “He’s not even pretending to care now.”

In recent months, agents have reportedly become increasingly concerned about the president’s approach to social distancing, and another official told CNN about the drive: “That should never have happened.”

The agent added: “The frustration with how we're treated when it comes to decisions on this illness goes back before this though. We're not disposable.”

However, the president’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, later claimed that the two Secret Service agents volunteered to drive Mr Trump, adding that they were separated from him by plexiglass.

In an interview with NBC's Today on Monday, Mr Lewandowski said: “The detail leader of the Secret Service and the driver both volunteered for that assignment. They have very difficult jobs but they were not required to do that, they both volunteered.”

The president’s brief trip was also criticised by health experts, who claimed that the precautions taken were not enough to guarantee that the agents would be safe from contracting the virus from Mr Trump.

James Phillips, doctor of emergency medicine at George Washington University and an attending physician at the medical centre, tweeted: “That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack.

“The risk of Covid-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.”

Speaking to reporters following Mr Trump’s drive, White House spokesman Judd Deere defended the trip, and said: “Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the president and all those supporting it.”

He declined to elaborate on what precautions were taken, but added that the drive “was cleared by the medical team as safe to do.”

Dr Fauci also revealed to CNN on Monday that he has not been involved in the president’s treatment at the medical centre, but praised Mr Trump’s personal physician Sean Conley and the rest of his medical staff.

“My colleagues that I know, including Sean Conley, are very good physicians and they're very qualified,” the 79-year-old said.

Dr Fauci added: “So I am really confident that the president of the United States is getting the optimal care that you can get with the team over at Walter Reed.”

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 7.4 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 209,881.