Covid: Trump’s son Barron had coronavirus, says first lady
US President Donald Trump’s 14-year-old son Barron contracted coronavirus but has since tested negative, First Lady Melania Trump revealed.
Mrs Trump said her “fear came true” when Barron tested positive for Covid-19.
But, she said, “luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms”.
Both the president and first lady also tested positive for coronavirus – as well as other White House staff – but have since recovered.
Later at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Mr Trump said: “He [Barron] had it for such a short period of time.
“I don’t even think he knew he had it because they’re young and their immune systems are strong and they fight it off.”
He added: “Barron is beautiful and he is free.”
The president cited his son’s recovery as a reason why American schools should reopen as soon as possible, a move opposed by teachers’ unions who fear their members could be infected by students.
He told the crowd: “Barron’s tested positive. Within, like, two seconds it was Barron is just fine now. He’s tested negative, right?
“Because it happens. People have it and it goes. Get the kids back to school.”
Opinion polls suggest Mr Trump is trailing his Democratic White House challenger Joe Biden barely three weeks before the election.
After she and the president received their positive results two weeks ago, she said “naturally, my mind went immediately to our son”.
Mrs Trump said it was a “great relief” when Barron initially tested negative, but was concerned he would later test positive for the virus. “My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive,” she said, adding that Barron exhibited no symptoms.
“In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together,” she wrote.
The first lady also reflected on her own diagnosis. She said she experienced a “roller coaster of symptoms”, including body aches, a cough and fatigue.
“I chose to go a more natural route in terms of medicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food,” she wrote.
In her statement, Mrs Trump also said the “most impactful part” of her recovery was “the opportunity to reflect on many things – family, friendships, my work, and staying true to who you are”.
Mrs Trump said she would be resuming her duties as soon as she could.
While Mrs Trump remained in the White House, President Trump spent three days at Maryland’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after his own Covid-19 diagnosis. He received a number of different drug treatments, including dexamethasone, a steroid, antiviral treatment remdesivir and monoclonal antibody therapy.
He returned to the campaign trail on Monday, telling supporters he felt “powerful”.
His personal doctor said on Sunday that he was no longer a Covid transmission risk to others.
An event at the White House on 26 September, for the unveiling of Mr Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, was thought to be the root of the localised outbreak of coronavirus.
The White House press secretary, former Trump counsellor Kellyanne Conway and two senators were among the people around the president who tested positive for the virus. On 2 October, hours after the first couple announced they had tested positive, Mrs Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told US media that Barron had tested negative.
The US has recorded more than 7.8 million coronavirus cases and 216,000 deaths, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University.
In a Twitter post she wrote: “After testing negatively consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms.”
“As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American People at this time.”
McEnany added that she will quarantine and will “continue to work on the behalf of the American people”.
McEnany said she tested positive on Monday.
“As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American People at this time,” she wrote. “With my recent positive test, I will begin the quarantine process and will continue working on behalf of the American People remotely.”
She attended a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House late last month when Trump introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court. That was a common event for many of those who tested positive. Very few people were wearing masks that day.
McEnany last briefed at the White House on Thursday, however she held an informal gaggle with reporters on Sunday after appearing on Fox News. She was not wearing a mask in either instance.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett walks to the microphone after President Donald Trump, right, announced Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept.26,2020.
When asked, McEnany refused to give an update on the number of White House staff members who have been infected
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted.
“Tonight, (at)FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a “quarantine process” after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn’t clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. This marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with less than four months before Election Day. However, it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.
Hicks traveled with the president multiple times this week, including aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, and on Air Force One to a rally in Minnesota Wednesday, and aboard Air Force One to Tuesday night’s first presidential debate in Cleveland.Trump had consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, even after White House staff and allies were exposed and sickened.
Trump, the vice president and other senior staff have been tested for COVID-19 daily since two people who work at the White House complex tested positive in early May, prompting the White House to step up precautions. Everyone who comes into contact with the president also receives a quick-result test.
The news was sure to rattle an already shaken nation still grappling with how to safely reopen while avoiding further spikes. The White House has access to near-unlimited resources, including a constant supply of quick-result tests, and still failed to keep the president safe, raising questions about how the rest of the country will be able to protect its workers, students and the public as businesses and schools reopen.Yet since the early days of the pandemic, experts have questioned the health and safety protocols at the White House and asked why more wasn’t being done to protect the commander in chief. Trump continued to shake hands with visitors long after public health officials were warning against it and he initially resisted being tested. He has been reluctant to practice his own administration’s social distancing guidelines for fear of looking weak, including refusing under almost all circumstances to wear a mask in public.
Trump is not the only major world leader known to have contracted the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a week in the hospital, including three nights in intensive care, where he was given oxygen and watched around the clock by medical workers. German Chancellor Angela Merkel self-isolated after a doctor who gave her a vaccination tested positive for the virus, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau worked from home after his wife fell ill.
The White House got its first COVID-19 scare in early March when at least three people who later tested positive came in close proximity to the president at his private Florida club. That included members of the Brazilian president’s delegation, including the Brazilian charge d’affaires, who sat at Trump’s dinner table.In mid-March, as the virus continued to spread across the country, the White House began taking the temperature of everyone entering the White House complex, and in April, it began administering rapid COVID-19 tests to all those in close proximity to the president, with staffers being tested about once a week.
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