The president of the United States is among the more than 7,000,000 Americans who have tested positive for COVID-19.

The White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says President Trump is in good spirits and has mild symptoms.

But what are mild symptoms of the respiratory, viral infection that has proven deadly for over 200,000 Americans?

Michael Conners, RN, BSN, CIC, an infection preventionist at Eisenhower Health says the term is generic, “But typically mild symptoms are low grade fevers less than say less than 100.4-100.7 mild cough, body aches, no difficulty breathing.”

But as the virus replicates those mild symptoms can get severe.

Experts say we just don’t know enough about the disease to know what makes it mild for some and deadly for others.

Connors says the illness is disease is different for everyone, “It varies quite a bit, we’ve had some 70-year-olds and even older who’ve had very little or no symptoms whatsoever.”

But Connors says the president does fall into the higher risk category, he says his age, 74, makes him five times more likely to be hospitalized, “He is an older age category and he is mildly obese, both of those make him at higher risk for being hospitalized or dying but most people even with that higher risk do recover without any major issues.”

Among those who’ve recovered without major issues is Dr. Andrew Ordon, a plastic surgeon to the stars and co host on the T.V. show “The Doctors”.

“It ain’t no hoax, trust me,” says Dr. Ordon from his medical office.

He says he got the illness in Seattle before anyone knew it was spreading. He says he had a moderate to severe case that lasted weeks, his symptoms included high fevers and body aches.

“It’s sneaky, it’s flu like but it’s different,” says Dr. Ordon adding what made it different was after about a week and some of the symptoms were subsiding he developed a deep, persistent cough that lingered.

He feels fortunate to have fully recovered, “I am back to 100 percent, but I haven’t let my guard down,” he says as he shows his mask.

But he says his friend was not so lucky, “A dear colleague in his sixties, he just passed from COVID-19 so this hit us hard in the plastic surgeon community.”

Both wish the president a full and speedy recovery and hope this will serve as a reminder to stay vigilant.

“We’re all ready for this to be over, unfortunately it’s not the virus is still out there, it’s still circulating and we really need to stay on our game,” says Conners.

“Now is not the time to drop our guard,” says Dr. Ordon.

For more information on COVID-19 and testing in Riverside County click here: RIVCOPH

Coronavirus Diagnosis is Different for Everyone Say Experts After President Tests Positive