United States President Donald Trump will not be tested for the coronavirus, in spite of being in contact with two Brazilian officials in Mar-a-Lago last week, who have since tested positive for the virus.
The decision not to test the U.S. president is based on a letter from the president’s doctor
The White House released an official letter from the president’s doctor, Sean Conley, which states that Trump’s interactions were categorised as “LOW risk for transmission”.
“The President’s exposure to the first individual was extremely limited (photograph, handshake), and though he spent more time in closer proximity to the second case, all interactions occurred before any symptom onset,” the doctor’s letter states.
The letter adds that there is “no indication for self quarantine at this time,” and that “given the President himself remains without symptoms, testing for COVID-19 is not currently indicated.”
Donald Trump said Friday he will “most likely” be tested for the novel coronavirus, as questions swirled about why he, his top aides and his family weren’t doing more to protect themselves and others after repeated exposure to COVID-19.
Trump has now had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus, which on Friday prompted him to declare a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were canceled and Americans braced for war against the threat.
Trump spent time last weekend at his private club in Florida with at least three people who have now tested positive. The Brazilian Embassy in Washington announced late Friday that the country’s chargé d’affaires, Nestor Forster, tested positive after sitting at Trump’s dinner table. So, too, have a top aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and an individual who attended a fundraiser Sunday with Trump, according to two Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private health matters.
Several top administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr and Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump, also met last week with an Australian Cabinet minister who on Friday was confirmed positive.
Multiple lawmakers and citizens across the country who have had the same degree of exposure have opted to voluntarily quarantine themselves and get tested out of an abundance of caution.
But Trump, who has long tried to minimize the threat posed by the virus, insisted Friday — contrary to the advice of many medical professionals — that he did not need to isolate himself because he wasn’t exhibiting symptoms. He conceded that he would “most likely” submit to testing “fairly soon,” but continued to flout public health officials’ advice by repeatedly shaking with attendees hands during a Rose Garden press conference on efforts to combat the pandemic.
Even so, Trump told reporters, “All Americans have a role to play in defeating this virus.”