Donald Trump and Melania test positive for coronavirus, to begin quarantine process immediately

US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania have tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday. “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately,” the president tweeted early Friday.

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

This comes just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hick s came down with the virus after travelling with the president several times this week. The diagnosis 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. And it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity Thursday, Trump said he was awaiting results of a COVID-19 test. “Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” he said, adding that the First Lady was also awaiting results. Hicks travelled 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. “I felt no vulnerability whatsoever,” he said told reporters back in May. He has instead encouraged governors to reopen their states and tried to focus the nation’s attention on efforts to revive the economy — not a growing death toll — as he seeks another four-year term. During the 90-minute first US presidential debate on Tuesday night, Trump displayed arrogance and continued scepticism of mask-wearing and mockery of former vice-president Joe Biden’s regular use of masks. During his exchange with debate moderator Chris Wallace, when asked about masks as a COVID-19 precaution, Trump said: “No, I think masks are okay. You have to understand, if you look… I mean, I have a mask right here. I put a mask on when I think I need it. Tonight, as an example, everybody’s had a test and you’ve had social distancing and all of the things that you have to, but I wear masks when needed. When needed, I wear masks. I don’t wear a mask like (Biden). Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from him and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.” 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 chargé d’affaires, who sat at Trump’s dinner table. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Trump and Melania a “quick recovery and good health”. “Wishing my friend @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS a quick recovery and good health,” Modi tweeted.

Wishing my friend @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS a quick recovery and good health. https://t.co/f3AOOHLpaQ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2020

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With inputs from AP