Ben Carson declares ‘God is still in charge' after surviving COVID-19
Nearly two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, Dr. Ben Carson, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, believes he’s “out of the woods at this point” and is confident that “together we will be victorious” as “God is still in charge.”
“I have several co-morbidities and after a brief period when I only experienced minor discomfort, the symptoms accelerated and I became desperately ill,” the 69-year-old retired pediatric neurosurgeon shared on his Facebook page Friday.
Carson, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said President Trump was following his condition and “cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received, which I am convinced saved my life.”
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Thanks to Trump, “the fabulous White House medical team, and the phenomenal doctors at Walter Reed,” he added, “I do believe I am out of the woods at this point.”
The secretary received the test at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
After the president tested positive for the novel coronavirus last month, he received antibody treatments from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Contrary to some claims, the drug was not derived from embryonic stem cells.
Regeneron is still awaiting emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to NPR, which also said Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody therapy Bamlanivimab received authorization for emergency use last week.
“We did not use human stem cells or human embryonic stem cells in the development of REGN-COV2,” explained Regeneron’s Alexandra Bowie in a statement to The Christian Post last month. “We did use the HEK293T cell line to test our antibodies’ ability to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus (they were used to make ‘pseudovirus’ that looks like the Spike protein).”
“I am hopeful that we can stop playing politics with medicine and instead combine our efforts and goodwill for the good of all people,” Carson continued in his post. “While I am blessed to have the best medical care in the world (and I am convinced it saved my life), we must prioritize getting comparable treatments and care to everyone as soon as possible.”
He further explained that many “promising treatments” need to be tested, approved and distributed sooner, rather than later, “so that the economy can be re-opened and we can all return to a semblance of normalcy.”
Carson said “people should recognize that there are a number of defined steps that legally have to be taken before vaccines are released to the public,” cautioning that attempts “to cause alarm by saying dangerous shortcuts were taken” will only “stoke fear.”
“Together we will be victorious. God is still in charge,” he declared.
Carson’s positive COVID-19 test came days after he attended an in-person, indoor party at the White House on election night.
Mark Meadows, the president's chief of staff who also attended the White House party, also tested positive. At least five other people in the White House have tested positive for the virus.
