UNITED States President Donald Trump has been transported to Walter Reed Medical Center after contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the White House announced on Friday afternoon, Oct. 2.
The president “remains in good spirits [and] has mild symptoms,” Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Friday according to a White House pool report.
“Trump will be headed to Walter Reed Medical Center shortly — Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” the statement added.
The president and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, the president said in a tweet early Friday morning.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” the 74-year-old leader wrote.
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
The test came after Hope Hicks, a senior adviser for the president who had been traveling with him on Air Force One and Marine One this week, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday morning.
An update from White House physician Sean P. Conley on Friday said the president received a “single 8 gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail.”
“As of this afternoon the President remains fatigued but in good spirits,” Conley said.
He also reported that the first lady “remains well with only a mild cough and headache.”
Before the test results, the president had a packed week of campaign events, which included a speech at the White House Rose Garden to announce the distribution of millions of coronavirus test kits on Monday; the first presidential debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden in Cleveland on Tuesday; a private fundraiser and outdoor rally in Minnesota on Wednesday; and a roundtable with supporters in New Jersey on Thursday.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who was with the president during a Sept. 25 fundraiser, tested positive for COVID-19, she revealed on Friday. Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, and University of Notre Dame President John Jenkins, who both attended the Saturday event when the president announced Amy Coney Barrett as the latest Supreme Court nominee, also tested positive.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus on Friday following the news. Other administration officials, such as daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have tested negative as well, according to the Washington Post.
Biden and his wife Jill, as well as running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, have tested negative for the virus on Friday.
“I hope this serves as a reminder,” Biden tweeted. “Wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands.” The former vice president proceeded to make a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Trump is the latest world leader to be infected by COVID-19 as it has killed more than 208,000 Americans and has infected over 7 million as of this writing.
