this is bbc news. i'm katty key in washington. donald trump is getting ready to leave hospital 72 hours after he first checked in. and while his doctor warned that he's not out of the woods yet, the message to the public was one of reassurance. i think you've seen the videos, and now the tweets, and you'll see him shortly. he's back. he'll return to a white house hard—hit by the virus — his press secretary is just the latest senior member of staff to test positive.

hello to those watching in the uk and around the world. i'm katty kay. president trump is due to leave hospital in about half an hour's time, after his medical team said he could return to the white house, where he'll continue treatment. donald trump's personal physician says they are cautiously optimistic. here's our north america editorjon sopel. it's being dubbed the covid joyride. last night, the president — who's still infectious — decided he wanted to wave to his supporters outside the walter reed hospital. the six—lane highway was cleared, secret service guards filed out, and then the unmistakable sight of the presidential motorcade moving towards where we were standing. this is quite an unbelievable scene. the president, who's being treated for coronavirus, part of his convoy has just come down this busy road. all traffic has been cleared and the president is waving at his supporters to say thank you for coming out to back him while he is meant to be in the hospital. and you can see all the vehicles of a presidential convoy

accompanying the president. donald trump, probably the world's most impatient patient, even released a video. it's been a very interesting journey. i learned a lot about covid. i learned it by really going to school. this is the real school, this isn't the let's read the book school, and i get it, and i understand it. the former reality tv star always has an eye for the visual, but the drive—by brought ferocious criticism from one of the covid physicians at the hospital. drjames phillips tweeted... and you'll see him shortly. he's back. the president's returning to the white house tonight, though he'll still require treatment, and his doctors say

he's not yet out of the woods. we all remain cautiously optimistic and on guard, because we're in a bit of uncharted territory when it comes to a patient that received the therapies he has so early in the course. he's still on powerful steroids, but this morning, it looked as though it was his twitter feed that was on amphetamines. the campaign for next month's presidential election is all systems go, as he went full caps lock on a whole variety of policy issues. today, campaigning in florida, the democratic candidatejoe biden was speaking to reporters, although his wifejill ensuring that he maintained social distancing. i'm not an expert on it, but i think we should be very cautious, as i've thought all along, and i'm going to continue to listen to the scientists. meanwhile, it's been announced that the president's press secretary, kayleigh mcenany, is the latest to test positive for coronavirus. she's been speaking to reporters

over the weekend, taking off her mask to discuss the president's health following his diagnosis. astonishingly, the white house itself has become the epicentre of a major covid outbreak. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's get the latest now from walter reed. lebo diseko is there. what are we seeing? what are we hearing? when is going to be taking off? as far as what we are hearing, these supporters that were across these supporters that were across the road, and all of the counter protesters that have come down today, have moved to our side of the road will stub the police have moved everybody in anticipation of donald trump leaving in half an hour's time now, katty, so it is that kind of carnival atmosphere but i think with a slight tension as people wait for

the presidents to take off. there has been some reporting, lebo, that he is trying to make an impressive grand exit, leaving through the sort of famous gold fronted doors of walter reed. are you hearing anything about that? we have not heard that at all. jon sopel said in his report that you playjust heard that at all. jon sopel said in his report that you play just a moment ago, we were expecting him to doa moment ago, we were expecting him to do a drive—by yesterday, certainly donald trump is keen to show everybody that he is back to normal, that not only is he back to normal but he has triumphed. his medical tea m but he has triumphed. his medical team said he is back, so who knows? he may well have another surprise for us as he said he would have yesterday. and then of course, he'll be taking the helicopter back to the white house. it's about a ten minute flight white house. it's about a ten minute flight from bethesda to the white house compound. his doctors, this afternoon, what did you make of

their press conference, lebo? on the one hand, saying, he is back, he is in great spirits, but there were some things they weren't keen to reveal — the state of his lungs, some other medical information. what are people reading into that shallow bios find it listening to the journalists questions at the end. they asked about the last negative test the president had antiviral load. he said that everybody wants to know that and then just would not be drawn on it. dr conley also said he was operative any more information about the therapeutics that the president might be on. he was asked whether we should do what the president says and not be afraid of covid. there is quite a lot of shouting. i think you see the strength of feeling behind me, but, yeah, a lot of questions the journalists had were not answered by

the team, so make of that what you will. lebo, just to clarify, he leaves walter reed and goes back to the white house and he will still be taking some of those medications. and presumably, he will still have to be in quarantine when he gets back to the white house. is that correct? yeah, by my count, they said that he is going to take another dose of remdesivir today. by my count, he still has one more to do. they were asked about the quarantine at the white house. again, would not be drawn. i assume he will, but we just don't know, katty. and are we getting a timeframe for this cosmic and thought it was good to be about 6:30pm, looks like it is giving up now. are you hearing any more of what we might expect? no. i've been watching very closely. donald trump

has been tweeting, aboutjobs, positive comments from other journalists, but i have not had any further indication as to what the timeline is. i mean, iwould imagine it would be fairly dramatic. you can see if they are quite a few people that are waiting for that, but not sure of the exact time as yet. 0k, lebo diseko there. thank you for that and walter reed. we will come back to you at walter reed if we have more information and we hear that the president is going to take off. the president has been given aggressive covid treatments that doctors are calling "uncharted territory". they include a cocktail of antibodies, the antiviral drug remdesivir — which he'll continue to get at the white house — and the steroid dexamethasone. that is normally used when patients who have become seriously ill. let's ta ke let's take a quick look at the medical side of things. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. it seems the president's doctors have thrown everything

they can at his infection, but getting an exact picture of his state of health hasn't been easy. the white house says president trump and the first lady tested positive for coronavirus on thursday evening. his doctor said as a precautionary measure, he was given a one—off infusion, a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies. this is an experimental treatment by biotech firm regeneron, designed to reduce viral load. it's promising, but there's no proof it works. clinical trials arejust starting in the uk. by late friday morning, mr trump had a high fever and his oxygen saturation levels had dipped to 93%, just below the normal lower limit of 95%, and he was given oxygen for about an hour. in my experience, from looking after patients who typically present to hospital after being unwell at home for about five to seven days, it's around that sort of time

that they start to need oxygen, so it's entirely possible that donald trump may have been unwell or had an infection in the background for a few days before he tested positive and before coming into hospital. later on friday, president trump was flown to walter reed military hospital. there, he was given a second drug, remdesivir — this is an antiviral which was approved in may as a covid—i9 therapy. a five—day treatment, it's been shown to speed up recovery and is used widely in the us. on saturday, the president was started on the steroid dexamethasone. this works by dampening the body's immune system, which can go haywire with covid—i9, and it reduces inflammation in the body. it's been shown to help the sickest covid patients, those in hospital, on oxygen or a ventilator, but it's not recommended for patients with mild symptoms. if you wanted to divide these things with a straight line down the middle, you'd say,

on oxygen or on a ventilator, give dexamethasone. not on oxygen or a ventilator, don't give dexamethasone. but that's rather more black and white than the subtlety of a one—on—one clinical conversation and decision. covid patients who appear to be getting better can sometimes take a turn for the worse several days after the infection, so the president's doctors won't relax until he is fully recovered. fergus walsh, bbc news. i'm joined now by drjames mcdeavitt, physician and dean at baylor college of medicine. thank you very much forjoining us. what do you read into the fact the president is being discharged from walter reed? i think it is encouraging sign. the question everybody wants to know is, is he going to get worse? and in the u nfortu nate nature going to get worse? and in the unfortunate nature of this covid—i9 disease, is, as his doctors have a knowledge you get seven to ten days

into the innocent have a decline, and we have a certain he seen that in our patients. they have been in the hospital, doing well, awake, alert, and then start to deteriorate seven to ten days into the illness. hopefully that doesn't happen. etiquette is encouraging he's doing as well as he is. i dickie was diagnosed four days ago come early in the morning on friday —— i think he was. he does seem to be noticeably better. the doctors they we re noticeably better. the doctors they were talking about how he is back. have you seen patients get that much better on day four and then get very sick again, or that be unusual for you? i think it would be unusual at this point to be ready to be discharged from the hospital. given he is been discharged to the white house, which is not exact we going to your home, with home health, i'm sure he's going to get very good support any house as well. it is encouraging he is doing as well as he can. nobody can say, and the white house doctors and said, we are not out of the wood yet and probably will not be until this coming weekend. i and say to her audience,

the life pictures as well, the light pictures of marine one, which is touched down at walter reed facility touched down at walter reed facility to conducted white house. how long is he still infectious for? do we know that? it is a critical question. and if you look at cdc guidelines, typically about ten days from the time you develop symptoms, is the period in which you need to be quarantines is the period in which you need to be quara ntines and is the period in which you need to be quarantines and stay away from other people post up if you're critically ill, if you have a severe viral load, if you are critically ill in the hospital on a ventilator, that period of time may be extended up that period of time may be extended up to 20 days. that puts him to about tuesday or wednesday of next week if he started developing symptoms on friday morning. and you recommend, in that timeframe, that he still quarantine even though he is going back to the white house, he ought to still be in quarantine because you look i do not take i would say ought to come i would say

must be. he can still infect other people unless they are in full ppe. he needs to be separated from people who could potentially get the virus. and once, sorry, i'm probably asking very basic questions, forgive me, doctor, but once he is through that period of another ten days, when you would not expected to be infectious any more, then he is fine? he can travel? he can carry on campaigning and doing all the normal things he would have beforehand? in terms of his risk infecting others, i think the answer to that question is yes. given he is the president of the united states, i am sure they will have a testing strategy to confirm that. the problem with testing is a, the test may remain positive because they are picking viral fragments, and that could go on for three to four weeks. he could have positive testing and not be infectious. i think that ten to 20 day window, based on thejudgement think that ten to 20 day window, based on the judgement of his physicians. a lot of reporters at the press conference this afternoon

with his doctors were asking, and have been pushing the white house for this too, to know when his last negative test was. so far, we have not got an answer that. why would that be clinically relevant? i don't have any other information about that but they're asking because if you backed that time up come if there was a positive test on thursday or wednesday, implications for who was exposed, who has to undergo contact tracing and we now have a dozen white house staff are set up tested positive for the virus, that is the underlying concern. thank you, dr forjoining us. concern. thank you, dr forjoining us. we also have with us are north american reported reporter anthony za rco. american reported reporter anthony zarco. the picture you see is the front door of walter reed medical centre. that ella can't gold front doorfrom which anthony, centre. that ella can't gold front door from which anthony, the

president will make his exit. -- anthony zarco. the president want to do something to better care if that is the way he will be exiting the building through the big doors. he is recording a video already from within the hospital which i'm sure we'll go out on social media before donald trump leaves. it will exit the gold doors and go to the helicopter and it will take him back to the white house. almost a perception of image we have talked about before donald trump. you he wa nts to about before donald trump. you he wants to stage manage this and power because two days in the hospital kind of undermines that aspect. yes, he was driven in. this is almost, the fact the doors are gold makes it even more so. the fact the doors are gold makes it even more so. and almost sort of triumphant exit, is any? it is. if incident with what we are hearing from the president himself. he had tweeted out a quote from the new york post column column think he

will return to the campaign trail and a principal hero who survived the democratic dirty tricks and the virus. and there have been other republicans from a senate candidate in georgia tweeting out a video of donald trump on a wrestling stage meeting up somebody who had the virus, superimposed on their head i think you can see the campaign strategy here being very clearly outlined. donald trump has returned and returned stronger and will show the way for america and how to defeat this virus. of course that may not be comforting news for the 210,000 americans who have already died of this virus and their families and loved ones who may not view this is something that is not worth being afraid of are something that can be overcome. yes. which of her minor viewers that his doctors even today have said he is not out of the woods yet. they are keeping a close eye. —— we should remind our viewers. once they get to next

monday, dr carly stated we will have a big sigh of relief which is pretty much the timeframe that our dr was just talking about. —— dr conley. i wonder if it will go further than you are suggesting. almost that the president, i have some sense of that from his tweets, the president is able to say i'm 7a, i had covid—19 and it wasn't a big deal. perhaps you don't need to take this so seriously. the president for months has been downplaying the threat of the virus early on he said it will go away like magic when he got warmer, he said that it whether something to worry about, even just a few weeks ago he was talking about how most people are not directly affected if they get the virus, only older people and people with heart conditions. either he was going to have to take a dramatic turn in his rhetoric, talking to about how serious the virus is or he was going to try to fit this end with his past state m e nts to try to fit this end with his past statements and clearly so far that

is what he is doing. i know you and i discussed how donald trump would have a change of faith on this and ta ke have a change of faith on this and take it more seriously and might change his tone, i think looking a twitter feed today and how he is dealing with this over the past couple of days that does not seem likely at this point. yes, from the 18 all caps tweets that were not in the course of one hour between 630 and 730 that in the morning. —— that went out at all times of the hour. and the strong tweet about saying he was filling 20 years younger. i think you are right. it will not be a change of tone for the president. how does he handle the rest of the campaign? let's say he does abide by the quarantine rules, quarantine means quarantine, by himself in the white house, and that is another week at least. that leaves somewhat three and a half more weeks of the campaign, four more weeks? how does

he handle the rest of the campaign? straight back out to the rallies that you think? i think it will partly depend on how he recovers from this. as a physician who you're talking to earlier said, sometimes they our setbacks. we don't know the presidential physician did not talk to us about long—term effects the president may be feeling. they wouldn't talk about x—rays on the lung, and in ammonia, these sorts of things that could stick around for longer. donald trump come if he bounces back and clean of the virus can be given a clean bill of health, i think he will want to get out and into campaign rallies. —— pneumonia. i don't think you have the same schedule with advents every single day but he wants to get out there and beat off the crowd. there is a debate in ten days. an open question about how that will be conducted, with the joe about how that will be conducted, with thejoe biden come he says he wa nts to with thejoe biden come he says he wants to be there but what they want to be close or have some sort of a

plexiglas divider like they will have at the vice presidential debate apparently. it will not be the same kind of donald trump campaign that we have seen until now. even if he wa nted we have seen until now. even if he wanted to be. no indication that the vice presidential debate on wednesday, no indication from the vice presidents office that he is thinking he said quarantine given that he too was at that nomination celebration ceremony last saturday. the vice presidential team say the cdc guidelines show that he wasn't close enough to be extended exposure to anybody who had tested positive to anybody who had tested positive to the virus. but we did see him at that event, there were plenty of people at the event who did test positive. but he was heading out on the campaign trail today. he just left from andrews air force base to go out west to prepare for his debate in nevada, sorry, utah. he has a debate in nevada, sorry, utah. he hasa campaign

debate in nevada, sorry, utah. he has a campaign rally on thursday in arizona. this is the term campaign trying to recreate some of the magic of donald trump ozment campaign rallies and a key swing state except heavily before , , ,,