First lady says son, Barron, had coronavirus but no symptoms
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump said Wednesday that her and the president’s teenage son, Barron, tested positive for the coronavirus not long after his parents but had no symptoms. She made the revelation in a lengthy note chronicling her personal experience with COVID-19, including being hit with a “roller coaster” of symptoms that she treated naturally with vitamins and healthy food.
Mrs. Trump said she is nownegative and hopes to resume her duties soon.
After she and President Donald
Trump tested positive earlier this month, the White House said Barron, 14, had tested negative. Barron later tested positive for the virus but had no symptoms, she said Wednesday, adding that he has since tested negative again.
The president, speaking at a campaign rally Wednesday night in Iowa, was cavalier about Barron’s infection, saying, “He had it for such a short period of time, I don’t even think he knew that he had it.”
“Barron is just fine,” Trump added, using his son’s quick recovery as part of his pitch to reopen schools. “It happens. People have it and it goes. Get the kids back to school. We’ve got to get the kids back to school.”
Mrs. Trump shared that after she and her husband first received their positive results, “naturally, mymind went immediately to our son.” She said she was relieved when he tested negative at first, but kept thinking about what wouldhappen inthe days to come.
“My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive,” the first lady wrote in a statement released to social media.
Mrs. Trumpdid not explainwhy Barron’s positive diagnosis was not made public earlier, but she has fiercely protected the ninthgrader’s privacy.
As for her own trials with the
disease, the first lady said she was “fortunate” to have had minimal symptoms, “though they hitmeall at once and it seemed to be a roller coaster of symptomsin thedays after.”
She described body aches, a cough and headaches and said she felt extremely tired most of the time.
To treat it, “I chose to go a more natural route in termsofmedicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food,” she said.
The first lady praised the care provided byNavyCmdr. SeanConley, the White House physician, and his team, and said it was an “unfamiliar feeling” to be the patient.
“It was me being taken care of now and getting first-hand experience with all that COVID-19 can do,” she said.