Don’t let Covid dominate your life. It’s just like the flu. I feel better than I have in twenty years. These comments came from President Trump after he left Walter Reed Hospital, most likely AMA- against medical advice. But since Covid landed on our shores, it has dominated Trump’s life as he tried unsuccessfully to get the disease under control. But when you have no plan or strategy to manage the disease, how can you get it under control. Taking measures that your gut tells you are right, will not do it. A long term strategy is needed. And because of his inability to control Covid and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have died, Trump is likely to lose the election next month.
As Trump revealed to Bob Woodward on tape, he knew how devastating the disease was going to be from the onset because it was airborne and there were no treatments. But he did not want to panic the country and did not tell the public what they were up against. And he went after it piece meal. The country did not have early testing capability and still does not have rapid tests available everywhere. Personal protective equipment was lacking for many first responders and initially there was a shortage of ventilators. But for some reason, Trump did not want to invoke the Emergency Authorization Act to get the equipment that the first responders, doctors, nurses and hospital personnel needed.
And Trump has refused from the outset to take the emergency mitigation measures that were recommended by infectious disease specialists and epidemiologists. Even at this stage where he has tested positive for the disease, he has poo-pooed wearing a mask, and social distancing. People thought that after having been infected with Covid 19, Trump would be more understanding and more reasonable about taking mitigation measures. But that never happened.
Back in the White House, Trump also put the kibosh on any new money for Covid relief. Less than a month before the election, Trump alienated millions of Americans who are suffering because they lost their jobs or were furloughed and needed financial relief badly. His move spooked the markets and after that, Trump reversed course and said that he was open to negotiating a Covid relief bill.
But his behavior since he was discharged from the hospital has been strange, especially his handling of Covid relief. Any politician in his or her right mind would never have cut aid right before an election. Apparently, he has also acted bizarrely at times in the White House. Covid does not just affect the lungs and can involve virtually any organ in the body. Trump’s conduct may be the result of Covid impacting his brain. It can strike the brain directly with the virus causing a mild or serious encephalitis, or it can cause strokes because the blood coagulates more easily. The steroid treatment, dexamethasone, may also affect the brain and cause various symptoms. Some people on steroids get high and manic, feeling invulnerable and that they can accomplish anything. Steroids can also affect cognitive function and thought processes may not be as clear as previously. A small percentage of steroid patients become psychotic or paranoid and the medication has to be stopped.
Over the next several weeks, Trump must be carefully observed by his physicians in the White House to be certain his thinking is not impaired and his actions are reasonable. He remains at risk for long term symptoms.
www.robertlevinebooks.com
The Uninformed Voter- available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020