PRESIDENT TRUMP AND MELANIA TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
American President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, have tested positive for Covid-19.
In an announcement early on Friday, US President Donald Trump said that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for Covid-19.
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
On Thursday, after a top advisor and trusted aid to Trump, Hope Hicks, tested positive for the virus, the President began the quarantine process while waiting for his results. Hicks travelled with the Trump entourage on Air Force One this week, for the presidential debate in Ohio on Tuesday and then to a campaign event in Minnesota on Wednesday.
In a Tweet, Trump said, "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!"
He told Fox News in an interview on Thursday that "I spend a lot of time with Hope, and so does the first lady. And she's tremendous."
Despite warnings from public health professionals, Trump has attended rallies with thousands of people in the past few weeks. He has also been criticised for his response to the pandemic, especially from the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, for the way he has handled the outbreak.
In stark contrast to Trump, Biden has avoided campaign events with crowds of people, and regularly wears a face mask – a practice that Trump has belittled in the media before.
The White House released a statement saying that Trump "takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously." But, it was reported that the White House stopped daily temperature checks months ago and that many people in the complex who don't receive Covid-19 tests regularly interact with those who do.
The coronavirus has infected more than 7.2 million Americans, killing more than 200,000 of them. Trump, who is 74, falls into the category of people in the US who are five times more likely to need hospital care and 90 times more likely to die than somebody in their 20s.
Watch the Skynews report for more below.