Covid: Donald Trump and Melania test positive
WASHINGTON - US
President Donald Trump has said he and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus and are now self-isolating.
Trump, aged 74 and therefore in a high-risk group, wrote on Twitter: “We will get through this together.”
It comes after Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, tested positive.
Trump’s announcement comes just over a month before the presidential elections on November 3 where he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Hicks, 31, travelled with Trump on Air Force One to the first presidential TV debate with Biden in Ohio on Tuesday. Some of Trump’s family members who attended the debate were seen not wearing masks.
Trump has mostly spurned mask-wearing and has often been pictured not socially distanced with aides or others during official engagements.
The coronavirus has infected more than 7.2 million Americans, killing more than 200, 000 of them.
Reacting to the news, British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter: “My best wishes to President Trump and the
First Lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus.”
Other world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, also sent messages of support to the US presidential couple.
As the nation reacts to the news of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump’s coronavirus diagnoses, some are also raising questions about the administration’s handling of the situation after Hicks confirmed that she had tested positive. A small group of White House officials knew by Thursday morning that Hicks had contracted Covid-19, according to CNN Correspondent Kaitlan Collins - but Trump still took a trip to New Jersey for a fundraiser, and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany still held a news briefing at the White House on Thursday.
McEnany didn’t wear a mask at the briefing, and made no mention of Hicks’ diagnosis to reporters in the room, Collins said. “So the question is going to be for the White House, why did the President still go to New Jersey, knowing that he could potentially put these people at risk, these donors and fund raisers? And of course, why did the press secretary still hold a briefing despite knowing she had come into contact with somebody who had just tested positive for coronavirus?” Collins said – BBC.