UCSF, Stanford doctors weigh in on experimental COVID-19 drug Trump received, contact tracing efforts
"The president has multiple risk factors for severe COVID disease and that includes that he's over 65, that he is obese, that he has high cholesterol and that he is male," said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a Stanford epidemiologist.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The White House medical unit, Capitol Hill staff and state health officials are scrambling to contact trace after President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus.
"There are world leaders in many other countries that are able to manage their senior executive staff and not get exposed to COVID," said Dr. Mike Reid, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF.
"Everybody, the president included, needs to wear a mask."
RELATED: Trump tests positive for COVID-19, taken to Walter Reed military hospital and given remdesivir
Reid also leads San Francisco and California's contact tracing programs.
"Probably it spread to him via somebody who didn't think they were that unwell," Reid said. "If I was trying to understand the outbreak better there, I would want to understand who he spent time with, were they wearing a mask, did they spend more than 15 minutes in close proximity less than six feet away from him? And in particular, was there anybody with symptoms?"
Over the past week, Trump has attended at least 11 events, rallies and news conferences in seven different cities, including Saturday's Supreme Court announcement in the Rose Garden and Tuesday's Presidential Debate with Joe Biden in Ohio.
"It is our goal to try and reach all close contacts of confirmed cases within 24 hours," said Reid about the contact tracing program in San Francisco. "So one would hope that somebody has sat down with Mr. Trump and found out who all he has spent time."
After White House Aide Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, the president and first lady tested positive, and on Friday, they reported symptoms. Trump then flew to Walter Reed Medical Center on the advice of his physicians.
"The president has multiple risk factors for severe COVID disease and that includes that he's over 65, that he is obese, that he has high cholesterol and that he is male," said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a Stanford epidemiologist.
Dr. Maldonado is involved in a clinical trial of Regeneron's antibody cocktail, which the president received a single dose of, through a compassionate use agreement with the company and FDA.
"The trials are ongoing to compare to placebo to see if it actually prevents people from getting progression of disease," explained Maldonado. "We need to protect this world leader and at this point I would use anything that I think is reasonably safe and has been reasonably tested even though they're not approved yet."
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