US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin discharged from hospital

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is out of the hospital and will work from home while he gets better from treatment for prostate cancer.

His choice to wait before telling his co-workers and the White House about his sickness made people upset and led to three investigations.

The 70-year-old had to go to the intensive care unit on 1 January because of problems after a surgery in December.

His doctors said he should get better soon and be back to normal.

Doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said that Secretary Austin is doing well and getting stronger.

They said his prostate cancer was treated early and worked well. They also said his chances of getting better are really good and he doesn’t need any more treatment.

The defense secretary is an important person in the US military and is right under the president in the chain of command.

In December, Mr. Austin had a small surgery to treat his prostate cancer. He went back to the hospital on New Year’s Day because the procedure had caused problems.

High-ranking military officials and the White House did not find out that Mr. Austin was very sick until three days after he was readmitted.

The fact that it was kept secret raised worries about security and transparency. As a result, three investigations have been started to look into how his health crisis was managed.

President Joe Biden said he still trusts his secretary to lead, but he wishes the secretary had been more honest about how sick he was.

Mr Austin said sorry for not telling people the right information.

He continued to work in his job while he was getting better. Last week, Mr. Austin gave permission for many attacks on Houthi fighters in Yemen from his hospital bed in the Red Sea.

On Monday, he said thank you to the doctors and nurses who took care of him.

“Now, as I keep getting better and working from home, I really want to get better soon and go back to the Pentagon,” he said.

The Pentagon said he can use secure communication to work from home.