A little after midnight in Washington, DC, President Donald 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!”
Tonight, 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)
President Trump is 74, which makes him part of the higher risk population. The announcement came on a day when reported deaths from the pandemic in the US reached 212,660.
The announcement came only a few hours after it had become known that Hope Hicks, who has served since February as counselor to the president, tested positive for the virus after several trips alongside the president this week.
Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night that he was waiting for the results of his coronavirus test, and commented: “Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know.”
Trump, the first lady, Vice President Mike Pence and senior White House have been tested for COVID-19 every day since early May, when two White House staffers tested positive. Also, anyone who meets the president is tested first.
President Trump joins other major leaders who have contracted the virus, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalized in intensive care. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have all been quarantined after coming in contact with confirmed coronavirus patients.
White House spokesman Judd Deere stated on Friday morning: “The president takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously. White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting Covid-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the president is traveling.”
According to Bloomberg, Hicks said earlier that she was experiencing some coronavirus symptoms. She was not wearing a mask last Tuesday, after the presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio,, when she, White House adviser Stephen Miller, and campaign adviser Jason Miller rode in the same van together. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, campaign manager Bill Stepien, and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien were all on Air Force One with the president Tuesday.