New Delhi: US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus Friday.
Trump confirmed the news in a tweet and said that they are going to quarantine themselves to recover from the disease.
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
Trump and Melania had earlier isolated themselves after Hope Hicks, one of the President’s closest aides, tested positive for the virus.
In a tweet Friday, the President had said that he and the First Lady were awaiting the results of their tests. “In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!”
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Hicks had accompanied the President and the First Lady, aboard Air Force One, to the first presidential debate held Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio. She also travelled with them to a rally in Minnesota Wednesday.
According to a Bloomberg report, “She felt poorly in Minnesota and quarantined aboard the presidential plane on the way home.”
The US President has in the past questioned the efficacy of wearing masks as a Covid-19 safety precaution and brought up the issue of waiters touching their masks and then touching plates while serving people at restaurants. When asked by Fox News TV host Chris Wallace about his stance on masks during the first US presidential debate Wednesday, Trump said: “I wear masks when needed”.
He also took a jibe at former vice president Joe Biden for frequently wearing masks. During the debate he added: “I don’t have — I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
It is still unclear how the Trumps testing positive will impact the Republican presidential campaign. Voting for the US Presidential elections is scheduled to begin on 3 November and two more presidential debates were scheduled for later this month on 15 October and 22 October.
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