Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 5, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba <s> ■e- C MHK PAGE A1 Y ■ IBM ■ MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 M M MB FOUNDED IN 1872 ■ Winnipeg Free Press ► CONNECT WITH CANADA'S HIGHEST READERSHIP RATE WEATHER: ISOLATED SHOWERS. HIGH 18 — LOW 9 Trump's case 'severe,' doctor says Use of steroid indicates lung damage, and that 'he's not out of the woods yet' LAURA KING AND CHRIS MEGERIAN WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump, hospitalized with COVID-19, received supplemental oxygen on Saturday — a previously undisclosed episode — and is now being treated with a powerful steroid amid indications that his lungs may have suffered some damage, the White House physician said Sunday. Trump late Sunday afternoon staged a motorcade drive-by outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and could be seen through the window of his massive black SUV, masked and waving to supporters who gathered outside. Speaking to reporters, the president said contracting the disease he’s tried to downplay has been a wake-up call. “It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID,” Trump said in a video from his hospital room and posted on social media. “I learned it by really going to school.” He added, “I get it, and I understand it.” At least one medical professional inside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Trump has been hospitalized since Friday evening, questioned whether Trump had really learned anything. “Every single person in the vehicle during that ANTHONY PELTIER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Donald Trump drives past supporters outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Sunday. completely unnecessary presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theatre. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theatre. This is insanity,” Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed, tweeted. • TRUMP, CONTINUED ON A2 • MORE COVERAGE ON A4 Experts baffled by assertions president could be released today ARIANA EUNJUNG CHA AND AMY GOLDSTEIN WASHINGTON — The assertion by U.S. President Donald Trump’s doctors that he could be discharged from the hospital as early as today astonished outside infectious-disease experts, who said he remains in a dangerous period of vulnerability when some COVID-19 patients decline precipitously and require urgent intervention. During a midday briefing Sunday on the president’s medical condition and treatment, White House physician Sean Conley and his team twice referred to planning to release Trump as early as today “if he continues to look and feel as well as he does today.” The talk of the president’s release from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center came as Conley and two other physicians treating Trump gave an upbeat but incomplete characterization of his condition. Outside doctors said they were mystified by what they said was an inconsistent portrayal of the president’s illness as relatively mild despite the aggressive mix of treatments he is getting. The president’s medical team was at times cryptic: Asked whether CT scans showed any signs of pneumonia or lung damage, Conley replied, “Yeah, so we’re tracking all of that. There’s some expected findings, but nothing of any major clinical concern.” He declined to elaborate. At another point, Sean Dooley, a pulmonary critical care doctor, said the president’s “cardiac, liver and kidney function demonstrates continued normal findings, or improving findings.” He did not disclose which of those had been subpar. “My impression is they are telling us everything that is of good news and limiting everything that is not perfect,” said Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. Robert Wachter, chairman of the University of California at San Francisco’s department of medicine, said any patient of his with Trump’s symptoms and treatment who wanted to be discharged from the hospital three days after their admission would need to sign out against doctors’ orders because it would be so ill-advised. “For someone sick enough to have required remdesivir and dexamethasone, I can’t think of a situation in which a patient would be OK to leave on Day 3, even with the White House’s medical capacity,” Wachter said. “Absolutely not,” William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University’s medical school, said of the idea of sending Trump back to the White House today. • CONTINUED ON A2 Thirty-six new cases and stations turn people away Testing overloaded REMEMBERING THE MISSING, MURDERED Folks gather at the memorial for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls at The Forks Sunday, the national day of remembrance, while ribbons and red dresses symbolize those lost to violence. While COVID-19 kept crowds small, advocates continue to fight for change. Last week, a Quebec woman was the latest added to the statistics, a reminder, experts say, of the work remaining. See story on page B3. as virus surges KATIE MAY AS Manitoba recorded its 23rd death caused by COVID-19 and announced 36 new cases of the virus Sunday, some people spent hours waiting to be tested. By early afternoown, Winnipeggers were being turned away from some testing sites, while others faced long lineups and no guarantee they’d be tested before closing time. A new mobile site at 1181 Portage Ave., which opened last week, saw light traffic early Sunday morning, but it reached maximum capacity shortly after 1 p.m., and was shut down to incoming drivers nearly three hours before it was set to close for the day. The MPI drive-thru testing site at 1284 Main St. began redirecting people around 2 p.m., as a double lane of more than a dozen vehicles snaked around the building. Staff on site didn’t answer questions about wait times, but before the drive-thru was closed to new traffic, drivers were handed a list of addresses for other testing sites, and were told they had no guarantee of being tested that afternoon if they chose to wait in line. On Sunday, public-health officials announced a man in his 50s is Manitoba’s 23rd COVID-19-related fatality. They also warned of potential exposure at Little Grand Rapids First Nation, where several people tested positive after attending the community’s recreation centre from Sept. 24 to 27. It’s the second batch of confirmed cases in a Manitoba First Nations community, following positive results last weekend for a family in York Factory First Nation. After 19 new cases were reported at Little Grand Rapids, that community is now in lockdown, with gatherings prohibited and restrictions that correspond with the red/critical phase in the provincial government’s pandemic response system. • CONTINUED ON A5 MORE ON CORONAVIRUS NYC SEEKS SHUTDOWN LIVE MUSIC, KINDA CITY'S STABILITY SHINES SIGHT FOR SORE EARS Mayor looking to close city's hot spots as summer's success short-lived / A8 With concerts off the radar, a look at the best live albums in music / Cl Real estate in Winnipeg surviving COVID nicely, new research shows / B4 The WSO played again, marking a return to the stage from the pandemic / C3 -e- -e- A_01_Oct-05-20_FP_01.indd A1 2020-10-04 10:32 PM ;