New Update : Washington, D.C. – U.S. President Donald Trump has been urgently taken to the hospital after being struck in the face by an object thrown by a supporter during a press briefing. The incident occurred earlier today as Trump was addressing the media outside the White House…SEE MORE:👇

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump returned to the White House from the hospital Monday, saying he had recovered from the novel coronavirus and that people should not be afraid of a disease that has killed more than 209,000 Americans.

Trump’s comments shortly before leaving Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, about the deadly pandemic — “Don’t be afraid of Covid” — are the latest examples of the White House’s decision to flout public health guidelines and engage in practices viewed as reckless.

That strategy has had dire consequences in the West Wing, where more than a dozen officials have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days, a steadily increasing total that grew again Monday to include White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. How the return of an infected president to such a setting can be managed safely was one of several questions left unanswered Monday as Trump’s medical team briefed reporters about his condition.

Conley declined to describe what specific steps would be made to ensure a safe environment at a building that doubles as a personal residence and a government office while the president remains contagious, which could be for several more days at least.

“I wish I could go into that more, but I just can’t,” he said.

The transformation of the White House into a vector of a deadly pathogen has done little to change the approach of an administration that has been determined to downplay the coronavirus for months. Trump used his personal experience with the disease — which twice knocked his oxygen levels down significantly and required him to be hospitalized and injected with several drugs — to again play down its severity.

“Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday afternoon, three days after he was transported there for treatment. “We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”

His statement immediately drew rebukes because he seemed to be minimizing the pandemic, something he has done consistently since it emerged as a threat earlier this year.

“‘Don’t be afraid’? I wish every American had access to the same health care you’re getting — but they don’t,” Sen. Robert Menendez, R-N.J., wrote on Twitter.

But Trump has given little indication that he plans to change his behavior if or when he is told by doctors that he can resume normal activities.

When he returned to the White House on Monday evening, the contagious president climbed up the stairs rather than use the usual ground-level entrance and posed for pictures. After a few seconds, he reached up with his right hand, took off his mask, put it in his pocket and resumed flashing thumbs ups. He then turned and entered the building.