‘Going welI, I think’: Donald Trump breaks Twitter silence from hospital with covid update

Donald Trump has broken his Twitter silence, tweeting from hospital that his treatment was going well, and offering his thanks to well-wishers.

Almost 24 hours after he tweeted to inform the world that he and first lady Malenia Trump had tested positive for coronavirus and were going to quarantine, the president tweeted: “Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!”

Mr Trump’s brief message, posted at around 11.30pm on the east coast of the United States was presumably posted from inside Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre, where he was flown by helicopter on Friday afternoon.

Doctors took the decision after the president was said to be feeling tired on Friday, after an initial report he was feeling fine. The world watched was he walked across the South Lawns of the White House to board Maine One and fly the short distance to the military facility at Bethesda, Maryland.

Mr Trump’s tweet came as it was revealed that former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, along with Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, had also tested positive.

Focus increasingly turned an event at the Rose Garden on September 26 to nominate judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as key to the spread of the virus among Mr Trump and his inner circle. Ms Conway was also at that event as were Republican senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, the president of the University of Notre Dame, as well as Mr Trump.

All have tested positive. Images showed few people at the event wearing masks,

Meanwhile, the White House revealed doctors had added another drug to Mr Trump’s treatment regimen, the antiviral treatment Remdesivir.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted an update from the President's physician, Sean Conley.

“This afternoon, in consultation with specialists from Walter Reed and Johns Hopkins University, I recommended movement of the President up to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for further monitoring.” it said.

“This evening I’m happy to report that the President is doing very well. He is not requiring any supplemental oxygen, but in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate Remdesivir therapy. He was completed his first does and is resting comfortably.”

Additional reporting by Reuters