Rudy Giuliani tests positive for coronavirus
WASHINGTON: Rudolph Giuliani, personal lawyer of Donald Trump, became the newest member of the US president’s inner circle to come down with Covid-19.
President Trump revealed Giuliani’s infection in a tweet saying he “tested positive for the China Virus”, deploying a description of the pathogen he used to shield him from any blame. Giuliani leads the president’s legal and political efforts to challenge his election defeat to Joe Biden.
President Trump indicated those efforts will continue unaffected by Giuliani’s infection, saying “we will carry on”.
Giuliani is 76, is overweight and a prostate cancer survivor, which taken together would put him in the high-risk category for developing severe symptoms of Covid-19. The former New York City mayor, who had been called America’s Mayor for leading the city’s response to and recovery from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is undergoing treatment at a Washington DC hospital.
Giuliani is the newest member of the expanding circle of Trump’s aides, associate and family members to have been infected by the deadly virus, in no small measure because of their refusal to abide by routine social distancing norms.
President Trump himself was infected and hospitalised with a bout of Covid-19 just days after the first of the two presidential debates in October. Melania Trump, the first lady, and their son Barron Trump followed shortly.
Attorney general to exit In another potential setback for the outgoing president, attorney general William Barr is reported to be weighing his exit from the administration before the end of Trump’s tenure.
Once a fierce loyalist, he invited the president’s wrath recently by declaring his department had found no evidence of widespread election fraud, disputing Trump’s claims he was robbed of a second term.
Biden picks health team Indian American Vivek Murthy is likely to return as US Surgeon General as President-elect Joe Biden is set to name California’s Hispanic attorney general Xavier Becerra as secretary of health and human services, media reports said. Murthy was earlier in speculation for the health secretary post.
Becerra will lead the health agency as officials struggle to contain a resurgence of the coronavirus in the US.