NEW YORK – President Donald Trump said Thursday he doesn't think he's contagious anymore, but medical experts say that's impossible to know a week after his diagnosis with COVID-19. But there's no way to know for certain that someone is no longer contagious so soon after falling ill, experts say. Earlier in the day, Trump said he was still taking dexamethasone, a steroid that can reduce fevers. His doctors haven't held a press conference since Trump left the hospital, only releasing statements with limited information. They have not released any details about his test results, including when Trump last had a negative virus test before he got sick.

Likewise, Trump was intimately involved in the planning for his evening return to the White House, turning it into a made-for-TV moment that dominated evening newscasts. The president was still contagious, and the White House doctor, Navy Cmdr. And even once he’s no longer actively shedding the virus, Trump could still test positive for some time, putting his participation in next week’s debate in doubt despite his avowed plans to attend. The long-term effects of the virus on Trump’s health were not clear — White House doctors have not discussed them with the public. He appeared to be breathing heavily Monday evening after climbing stairs on his return to the White House.

(AP Photo, File)WASHINGTON – Throughout American history, an uncomfortable truth has been evident: Presidents have lied about their health. But with an election coming on, Roosevelt and the White House staff issued a statement saying the problem was far less serious. The first known instance of a so-called pool reporter inside the White House was in 1881 when James A. Garfield was shot. As he lay in bed, Associated Press reporter Franklin Trusdell sat outside the president's sick room, listening to him breathe and sharing updates with other correspondents. “I listen for every sound,” Trusdell wrote to his wife in a note about his overnight Garfield watch at the White House.

WASHINGTON – The coroniavirus reached further into Republican ranks on Saturday, forcing the Senate to call off lawmaking as a third GOP senator tested positive for COVID-19. “The Senate’s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair and historically supported confirmation process,” McConnell wrote Saturday. Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who like McConnell is running for reelection, added that senators can attend the hearings remotely. Republicans in the Senate who had attended GOP events began announcing that they too had tested positive. The news about Covid's march into the White House didn't let up and wasn't flattering after months of complaints that Republicans weren't approaching the pandemic in a serious or organized way.