President Donald Trump will debate Joe Biden next week in Miami following the president's Covid-19 diagnosis.
On Twitter, Trump said his debate with Biden on Thursday, October 15th "will be great."
Communications Director Tim Murtaugh said that Trump "intends to participate in person" when asked whether there will be testing requirements and other health measures since the president was diagnosed with Covid-19.
Trump's medical team continues to monitor his viral load for insight as to when he may no longer be infectious. Trump and his wife, first lady Melania Trump, tested positive for Covid-19 a month away from the US elections. White House physician Sean Conley said at the time that the couple were “both well” at the moment.
Trump confirmed his Covid-19 test result in a Tweet: “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Top White House aide Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus first. Hicks reportedly spends a lot of time with Trump. Hicks, the president, and his first lady went to Cleveland for the debate on Air Force One with a group that is composed of Trump’s relatives and advisors.
"A dangerous position"
Based on the guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Trump is still contagious 10 to 20 days from the onset of symptoms. Trump's symptoms appeared on or about Oct. 1.
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the president appears to be in a more severe category.
“It is a little bit confusing, but by and large, the president looks pretty good,” he said during an interview on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” “So far so good, and we have high hopes for his complete and rapid recovery.”
“But that said, he’s still in a dangerous position. He is 74 years old, he is overweight, he is male. All of those things put him in a more severe category potentially,” he noted.
The doctor stressed that Trump must not be discharged from the hospital because Covid-19 can be “very stealthy” and infected patients can “suddenly crash.”
For Schaffner, Trump should not leave the hospital for a few more days “under the 24-hour-a-day, watchful attention of the staff.”
“We know this infection can be very stealthy and … kind of fake you out because you can do well for several days and then suddenly crash,” he stressed.
"If he returns to the White House and an emergency happens and they need to bring him back to Walter Reed, it would not be good for the president, he said. “That would not be a good idea. Let’s be conservative and take it a day at a time,” he added.
If the debate happens next week, both Trump and Biden will respond to questions raised by voters in Miami. The political editor of C-SPAN will moderate the second debate in a town hall format.
The third presidential debate is set for Oct. 22 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker will be its moderator.
