Trump tests negative for coronavirus – White House Doctor

• Posted on March 16, 2020March 16, 2020
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House physician has said.

“This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” Sean Conley said in a statement on Saturday.

Mr Trump underwent a test days after hosting a meeting at his Florida resort with a Brazilian delegation, some of whom have tested positive.

Fabio Wajngarten, an aide to the Brazilian president, was among those later confirmed to have the disease.

“One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free,” Mr Conley said.

Mr Trump, aged 73, did not self-isolate after that meeting, saying he had no symptoms.

But after a barrage of further questions during a new conference at the White House, he said he would get tested.

He was checked on Friday, the White House physician said.

“I have been in daily contact with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation,” Mr Conley’s statement said.

Official US advice is that people who have contact with a confirmed case should stay at home for 14 days.

The US has more than 2,700 confirmed cases, with 54 deaths.

On Friday, President Trump declared a national state of emergency to release $50bn (£40bn) to fight the spread of the virus.

What about the Mar-a-Lago visit?

Mr Wajngarten, a press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, posted a photograph of himself standing close to Mr Trump.

The Brazilian official tested positive several days after that visit.

Other Brazilians in Mr Bolsonaro’s entourage at Mar-a-Lago have since tested positive including lawyer Karina Kufa, Senator Nelsinho Trad and Brazil’s ambassador to the US, Nestor Forster.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez – who also met Mr Wajngarten during his US trip – announced on Friday that he had been infected.

The Brazilian delegation also met Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, also present at Mar-a-Lago, has announced that he will self-quarantine “in an abundance of caution”.

Which other politicians have been tested for the virus?

Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would enter 14 days of self-quarantine after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for the virus.

Speaking to reporters, the prime minister said he was taking advice from doctors and “it was explained to me that as long as I show no symptoms at all there is no value in being tested”.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s wife Begoña Gómez tested positive for the virus, the government confirmed.

Officials said they both remained in the prime minister’s residence at La Moncloa in Madrid and were doing fine.

Spain is Europe’s worst-hit country after Italy.

Meanwhile in the UK, health minister and Conservative MP Nadine Dorries was diagnosed with the coronavirus earlier this week.

Ms Dorries said she has been self-isolating at home.

Ten more people in the UK have died in the past 24 hours after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to 21.

Last month, Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi was confirmed as being infected.

The minister was earlier seen sweating profusely at a news conference.

Iran is one of the countries worst-hit by the virus, with more than 600 deaths confirmed.

The virus has spread to every province in Iran, and people are fearful that the true scale of the outbreak is even worse than is being disclosed.

-BBC