Donald Trump's COVID-19 Bout More Dire Than First Reported

Former President Donald Trump's bout last fall with COVID-19 was worse than White House officials acknowledged at the time, according to a report Thursday from the New York Times.

Trump's oxygen levels plunged into the 80s, according to the report, and his condition was so dire before being hospitalized, officials thought he would need a ventilator.

Four people familiar with the former president's condition said Trump had lung infiltrates, present when there is inflammation with fluid or bacteria in the lungs.

Particulates are a sign of an acute case of COVID. His blood-oxygen levels dipping below 90 was a grave concern; levels in the low 90s classify as a severe case of the disease.

The report shows the information released by the White House in October was incomplete and often deceptive. Reaction from the media expressed little surprise.

Trump, known to flout coronavirus prevention protocols, also had roughly 10% of the Secret Service out because of positive tests after several campaign rallies in early November.

Trump's medical team, led by former White House physician Dr. Sean Conley, repeatedly played down the seriousness of Trump's condition. Trump's age and physical condition rendered him at risk of a severe case of the disease and he received aggressive treatment.

It's still unknown if Trump was ill when he participated in the Sept. 29 presidential debate. That was two days before it the announcement he had COVID and three days before his hospitalization.

Conley offered information to the press designed to mask the seriousness of Trump's condition, including a statement Trump had fared well on a spirometry test, designed to measure lung capacity. Medical experts call the test almost useless in COVID patients.

On Oct. 1, Trump received an antibody cocktail that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. At Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, doctors gave Trump a steroid usually used in only severe or critical cases of COVID, as well as a five-day treatment on remdesivir, an anti-viral drug.

At the time, medical experts pointed to the remdesivir treatment as indicative of serious lung issues.

The White House was home to multiple outbreaks of COVID during the final months of the administration. Trump, first lady Melania Trump and several members of the White House staff were among the people in the former president's orbit who contracted the disease.