Coronavirus survivors, doctors react to Trump tweeting ‘don’t be afraid’ of COVID-19

President Donald Trump told Americans “don’t be afraid” of COVID-19 before leaving the military hospital where he was being treated for the virus.

It’s a comment that’s caused outrage and concern among doctors and those who have survived the disease.

The president tweeted Monday afternoon he would be leaving Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, later that day, saying he was “feeling really good.” Later, his doctors said at a press briefing on Monday that his condition has improved but he’s “not entirely out of the woods yet” after he was first admitted to the hospital on Friday.

“Don’t be afraid of Covid,” Trump tweeted. “Don’t let it dominate your life.”

When Trump returned to the White House Monday evening, he posted a video echoing similar sentiments.

“You’re gonna beat it,” he said. “We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines.”

Many were quick to point out that the president was again downplaying a virus that, according to Johns Hopkins University, has so far claimed the lives of more than 210,000 Americans and infected more than 7.4 million. Experts also noted that the president has access to medical care and experimental treatments unavailable to most in the country.

“We SHOULD be afraid of #covid19,” Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University School of Public Health, tweeted in response.

Dr. Janet Baseman, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health, wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the president has access to the world’s best health care and a helicopter to take him to the hospital as needed.

“The rest of us who don’t have such ready access to care should continue to worry about covid, which has killed a million people around the world in just a handful of months,” Baseman told the AP.

Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, tweeted a statement Monday also urging Americans to continue to be cautious.

“The only thing we have to fear is complacency,” Bailey wrote.

When Trump arrived back at the White House, he immediately took his mask off to pose for photographers on a balcony, again causing concern over the message he was sending.

Fiana Tulip, whose mother died from coronavirus in July, told CNN that Trump removing his mask was the “cruelest visual yet.” Her mother, who was a respiratory therapist at a Texas hospital, died within a week of contracting the virus, she said.

“She told me a story about a woman visiting her dad and she refused to wear a mask because ‘her President didn’t wear one.’ That’s what she said when my mom asked her to put on a mask,” Tulip said on CNN. “After that, many patients and many health care workers got sick.”

Survivors and those who have lost relatives and spouses to the virus were also upset by Trump’s comments, with some using the hashtag #whyiamafraidofcovid on Twitter.

Amanda Kloots, whose husband and Broadway star Nick Cordero died after catching the virus, called Trump’s tweet a “slap in the face” on her Instagram.

“I’m honestly not a very political person but this is really kind of hard to ignore,” she said. “I’m sitting here in my house and I’m honestly frozen. I can’t really even move. I couldn’t believe what I read.”

She said the families who have lost loved ones to the virus “know how terrifying it can be.”

“Not everyone’s lucky enough to walk out of the hospital after two days,” she said. “So we saw what this disease can do so guess what: We are afraid. We are. I still am.”

Marc Papaj, a Seneca Nation member who lives in New York, told the AP that he can’t follow the president’s advice to not let the virus “dominate his life” as he’s lost his mother, grandmother and aunt to it.

“The loss of my dearest family members will forever dominate my life in every way for all of my days,” Papaj said, according to AP. “He does not care about any of us — he’s feeling good.”