President Donald Trump's condition is continuing to improve as he fights a coronavirus infection, doctors said, and he left Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday evening, landing at the White House shortly before 7 p.m.
Doctors also reported that Trump, over the course of exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, had earlier experienced two episodes of "transient drops" in his oxygen saturation.
Yet the president was feeling well enough Sunday evening to briefly leave Walter Reed for a surprise drive-by, waving to supporters outside the hospital.
Administration member Judd Deere subsequently put out a statement saying that, "President Trump took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave to his supporters outside and has now returned to the Presidential Suite inside Walter Reed."
Meanwhile, numerous questions remain about how many people at the highest levels of government had been exposed to the virus after a week of events involving the president where social distancing and mask-wearing were lax in the White House and elsewhere.
Here is how the news developed on Monday. All times Eastern.
Oct 05, 2020, 11:00 AM EDT
First lady says she is 'feeling good'
First lady Melania Trump said she is "feeling good & will continue to rest at home" in a tweet she posted Monday morning.
President Trump announced early Friday morning that he and Melania Trump had both tested positive for the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk to board Air Force One to travel to the first presidential debate in Cleveland, Sept. 29, 2020, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Melania Trump has stayed at the White House since her positive test, while President Trump has been at Walter Reed Medical Center since Friday afternoon. Doctors are hopeful the president will be discharged later Monday.
Oct 05, 2020, 10:42 AM EDT
Vice President Pence, wife test negative Monday
Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence both tested negative for the coronavirus on Monday, according to an official in the vice president's office.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence arrive in the Rose Garden to speak on Covid-19 testing at the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 28, 2020.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
"Both the vice president and second lady are negative again today," the official said.
-ABC News' Jordyn Phelps
Oct 05, 2020, 9:56 AM EDT
White House urges staff to keep distance if sick days after positive cases
Staff at the White House were urged to stay home if they were sick days after President Trump and some of his advisers tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email sent to the staff and obtained by ABC News.
One of Trump's closest advisers Hope Hicks was the first White House official to test positive on Wednesday, sources told ABC News. On Tuesday, she had traveled with the president on Air Force One to and from the debate and was seen in social media posts watching the debate in a "war room."
Hope Hicks, an advisor to President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One to depart Washington with the president and other staff on campaign travel to Minnesota from Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 30, 2020.
Leah Millis/Reuters
Trump and first lady Melania Trump announced they had tested positive for the coronavirus early Friday morning.
In addition to Hicks and the president, three other participants in debate preparations at the White House last Monday have tested positive: Campaign manager Bill Stepien, former adviser Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey governor and ABC contributor Chris Christie.
The email to White House staff urges them to stay home if "you are experiencing symptoms such as sore throat, cough, fever, headache, new loss of taste or smell, muscle aches, chills, diarrhea, or difficulty breathing."
-ABC News' John Santucci
Oct 05, 2020, 8:43 AM EDT
Meadows 'optimistic' Trump will be released from hospital today
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told ABC News the determination whether to release President Trump from Walter Reed Medical Center will be made later on Monday between the president and his medical team.
President Donald Trump walks to Marine One prior to departure from the South Lawn of the White House, Oct. 2, 2020, as he heads to Walter Reed Military Medical Center, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
While a determination has not been made as of yet, Meadows says he's "optimistic" Trump will be back at the White House later in the day on Monday.
Doctors on Sunday also said at a press briefing that they were hopeful that Trump could be released on Monday.
