President Donald Trump is "no longer considered a transmission risk to others" for the coronavirus, according to a memo from his doctor released on Saturday night.
Cmdr. Sean Conley, DO, the White House doctor who provided updates on Trump's health at Walter Reed National Medical Center last weekend, has issued several memos during the week. Saturday's update had limited information but essentially clears Trump to resume campaign activities.
"This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the president meeting CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning's COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others," Conley wrote.
The wording seems unusual, several doctors and scientific experts told The New York Times and other news outlets. The memo doesn't explicitly say Trump tested negative for the virus, and no current test can definitively say whether someone with COVID-19 is still contagious or poses a transmission risk to others.
However, some tests can show how much virus remains in the body, so the memo may indicate that Trump's viral load for the coronavirus is small but still detectable, the newspaper reported.
"In addition, sequential testing throughout his illness has demonstrated decreasing viral loads that correlate with increasing cycle threshold times, as well as decreasing and now undetectable sub-genomic mRNA," Conley wrote.
