Coronavirus: US President Trump says catching COVID-19 was a ‘blessing from God’

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that contracting the coronavirus was a blessing because it enabled him to see the value of a powerful “therapeutic” treatment he described as a “cure”.

“I think this was a blessing from god that I caught it [COVID-19]. This was a blessing in disguise,” Trump said in a video he tweeted. “I caught it. I heard about this drug. I said let me take it, it was my suggestion. It was incredible the way it worked.”

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Trump received Regeneron’s treatment among a cocktail of drugs given by doctors at the White House and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“I want to get for you what I got. And I’m going to make it free,” Trump said.

“It’s a cure…. For me, I walked in, didn’t feel good and a short 24 hours later I was feeling great.”

Trump was discharged from Walter Reed on Monday and returned to work in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

“I feel great. I feel perfect,” Trump said in the video.

Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician said in a memo that Trump had been symptom-free for over 24 hours, and that his oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate were normal.

The memo also said a blood test on Monday showed Trump had coronavirus antibodies, substances that fight infection, but he had already been given an experimental drug on Friday containing these.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. says it’s not possible for this type of blood test to distinguish between antibodies Trump’s body may be making and those supplied by the company’s drug. Most likely, the ones detected in the Monday test are from the drug, the company said.

- With The Associated Press

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