Washington-US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a development that is likely to affect his hectic election campaign just weeks before the presidential polls.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER! President Trump tweeted.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
In a statement, Trump’s physician Dr. Sean Conley said the president and the first lady “are both well at this time”, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.
“Rest assured I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering,” Conley added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Trump and the first lady a quick recovery. “Wishing my friend @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS a quick recovery and good health,” Modi tweeted.
Trump’s physician said he received confirmation of the positive tests on Thursday evening.
“The White House medical team and I will maintain a vigilant watch, and I appreciate the support provided by some of our country’s greatest medical professionals and institutions,” Conley said.
Trump’s all engagements outside of the White House were cancelled. He was last seen in public on Thursday afternoon returning to the White House after a fundraising trip to New Jersey.
“As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together,” Melania, who is 50, tweeted.
Trump’s “diagnosis amounts to the most serious known health threat to a sitting American president in decades,” the CNN said. “At 74 years old, Trump falls into the highest risk category for serious complications from the disease.”
“His infection with the disease could prove destabilizing in an already fraught political climate, and stock market futures tumbled on news of Trump’s infection,” it said.
Vice President Mike Pence said millions across America were praying for the full and swift recovery of the president and his wife.
“Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump. We join millions across America praying for their full and swift recovery. God bless you President Trump & our wonderful First Lady Melania,” Pence tweeted.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the strength of the entire country is with President Trump and the first lady.
“America stands united. Our country stands strong. Your President will continue to put the People first!” McEnany tweeted.
The White House issued a new schedule to reflect several cancelled events, including a campaign rally in Florida.
“The President hosts a phone call on COVID19 support to vulnerable seniors, said the new daily guidance from the White House.
In the middle of the election campaign, Trump has been travelling a lot in particular in the battleground States. The development is likely to bring to standstill his hectic campaign for the November 3 presidential election.
On Tuesday night, Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden had their first presidential debate. The second presidential debate is scheduled for October 15, which falls immediately after the mandatory quarantine period. The third and final debate is scheduled for October 22.
During the first presidential debate, Biden attacked Trump over the handling of the coronavirus crisis and said the president lied to Americans on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 people and infected over seven million others in the country.
Trump had mocked Biden for regularly wearing a face mask in public. “I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said, referring to the 77-year-old former vice president.
Biden, who shared the debate stage with Trump, is expected to get tested for coronavirus, CNN reported, citing a source familiar with his plans.
The channel quoted former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security Miles Taylor as saying that President Trump having coronavirus sparks national security concerns.
“We have to consider the possibility that this may affect, again, his ability to carry out the duties of his office. That’s a big concern. It’s something that this White House wasn’t preparing for, in my view,” Taylor said.
Trump and Melania were tested for COVID19 hours after one of their close aides, Hope Hicks, tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for COVID-19. Terrible!” Trump said in an earlier tweet.
Hicks, 31, is the closest aid of the president to have tested positive with coronavirus. She had travelled with the president on Air Force One early this week.
Trump, in an interview to Fox News on Thursday night, said he and the first lady spend a lot of time with her.
“She wears masks a lot. But she tested positive,” Trump said.
In a statement, Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere said that the President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously.
Several White House staffers have tested positive with COVID-19 in recent months, including the National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien and Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary.
“It’s Going To Disappear”: What Trump Had Said On Covid
After months of playing down its significance, refusing to wear a mask and holding large campaign rallies as the coronavirus spreads across the United States, US President Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19.
Here are some of Trump’s most notable and colorful statements on the illness.
Under control
“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
Trump in January at the start of the pandemic.
Miracle
“It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”
Trump still publicly upbeat in February.
Top marks
“I’d rate it a 10.”
Trump gives himself top marks for his response to the virus in March.
No face masks
“I just don’t want to be doing — somehow sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute Desk, the great Resolute Desk, I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don’t know, somehow I don’t see it for myself. I just don’t. Maybe I’ll change my mind.”
Trump tells the world in April he doesn’t like wearing face masks.
Prescribing disinfectant
“Then I see the disinfectant which knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside for almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that.”
“So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and I think you said, that hasn’t been checked but you’re gonna test it. And then I said, supposing it brought the light inside the body, which you can either do either through the skin or some other way.”
Trump floats unscientific cures in April.
Going on the offensive
“I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves, because they’re like the public relations agency for China.”
Attacking the WHO and China in April.
Tested positive
‘It’s Going To Disappear’: What Trump Had Said On Covid
Trump joins growing list of virus-infected world leaders
President Donald Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus, joining a small group of world leaders who have been infected. Trump is 74, putting him at higher risk of serious complications. Here’s a look at other leaders who have been infected.
BORIS JOHNSON
The British prime minister was the first major world leader confirmed to have COVID-19. He was moved to intensive care in April after his virus symptoms dramatically worsened a day after he was hospitalised for what were called routine tests.
He was given oxygen but did not need a ventilator, officials said. He later expressed his gratitude to National Health Service staff for saving his life when his treatment could have gone either way.
JAIR BOLSONARO
The Brazilian president announced his illness in July and used it to publicly extol hydroxychloroquine, the unproven malaria drug that he’d been promoting as a treatment for COVID-19 and was taking himself.
For months he had flirted with the virus as he flouted social distancing at lively demonstrations and encouraged crowds during outings from the presidential residence, often without a mask.
JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ
The Honduras president announced in June that he and his wife had tested positive, along with two other people who worked closely with them.
Hern ndez said he had started what he called the MAIZ treatment, an experimental and unproven combination of microdacyn, azithromycin, ivermectin and zinc that his government was promoting as an affordable way of attacking the disease. He was briefly hospitalized and released in July.
Hernandez has added his voice to growing pleas for equitable access to any COVID-19 vaccine, asking the recent UN gathering of world leaders, Are people to be left to die?
ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI
The Guatemalan president said he tested positive for the virus in September. My symptoms are very mild. Up to now, I have body aches, it hurt more yesterday than today, like a bad cold, the president said during a televised address. I don’t have a fever, I have a bit of a cough. He said he’d be working from home.
JEANINE ANEZ
The virus drove the Bolivian interim president into isolation in July, but she said she was feeling well.
LUIS ABINADER The newly elected president of the Dominican Republic contracted and recovered from COVID-19 during his campaign. He spent weeks in isolation before the country’s July election.
IRANIAN LEADERS
Iran, the epicentre of the Mideast’s initial coronavirus outbreak, has seen several top officials test positive. Among them are senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and Vice President Massoumeh Ebtekar. Cabinet members have tested positive too. In February, Iran denied for days that the virus was in the country. After struggling to lock down, Iran has largely reopened its economy even as cases and deaths rise higher.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
