Trump, Melania awaiting COVID-19 test result after top aide tests positive

PTI, Oct 2, 2020, 9:31 AM IST

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that he and the first lady Melania are awaiting their coronavirus test results and would quarantine themselves after one of their close aides tested positive for the deadly infection.

Trump announced about putting himself in quarantine in a tweet late Thursday night after his close aide Hope Hicks was tested positive with COVID-19.

The development is likely to bring to standstill his hectic election campaign.

The president and the first lady were also tested for COVID-19 and the result is awaited. “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!” Trump said in his tweet.

Hicks, 31, is the closest aid of the president to have tested positive with coronavirus. She had travelled with the president on Air Force One early this week.

Trump, in an interview to Fox News, on Thursday night said he and the first lady spend a lot of time with her.

The president said he and the First Lady were tested for COVID-19 and are now awaiting the results.

In the middle of the election campaign, Trump has been travelling a lot in particular in the battleground States.

“I just went out with a test… and the first lady just went out with a test also. So, whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” he said.

In a statement, Judd Deere, the Deputy White House Press Secretary said that the President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously.

“White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the President is travelling,” Deere said.

Several White House staffers have tested positive with COVID-19 in recent months, including the National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien and Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence”s press secretary.