(1) Presidential emergency medical evacuation to Walter Reed is one of the most well-rehearsed contingency plans - certainly a very dramatic visual. Early this summer, the White House Military Office and Walter Reed retrofitted the president's suite there to be Covid-19 ready.

(2) So his going there means that he is going to the safest place for anyone in his condition to be now, whether his symptoms or mild or otherwise.

(3) Yes, the medical unit has really good equipment in its office and in ... special places ... inside the White House complex, but you don't want medical people treating a patient at home -- you want them in the BEST environment for care, which, in this case, is the NMMC.

(4) Since Covid-19 began, the medical unit has augmented in staff and put military medical officials on stand-by to deal with a White House cluster; this is the result of new WHMO guidance issued a few months ago.

(5) The Presidential contingency plans say almost NOTHING about accurate, timely, communication in an information disordered environment. No guidance for the Press Secretary. No counter-disinformation strategy. Nothing. This is a HUGE hole.

A fuller piece on this, coming soon.