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WASHINGTON – After months of downplaying the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, US President Donald Trump announced early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump had contracted the disease. The diagnosis brings uncertainty to 32 days of the November 3 presidential election, setting a new tone for the health crisis that has already killed more than 207,000 Americans, a world record.
Trump, 74, announced the result of his examination on Twitter early in the morning, hours after claiming that he and the 50-year-old first lady had been quarantined after Hope Hicks, one of his closest advisers, be infected. The main threat to the health of an American president in decades, the diagnosis has shaken the global financial system, with the opening of the European and American stock markets.
Analyze:Trump’s positive test changes the scenario for the November elections
“Tonight, the first lady of the United States and I tested positive for Covid-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through it together!” Trump tweeted.
White House Chief of Staff Mike Meadows told reporters that the president had “mild symptoms” but did not specify them. On Thursday, Trump looked tired as he attended a fundraising event in New Jersey that drew about 100 people on his golf course. Hours later, his voice was hoarse during an interview with Fox News. On her Twitter, Melania said she also has “mild symptoms.”
Understand:What happens in the event of the incapacity of the American president?
According to the president’s doctor, Sean Conley, Trump and Melania “are doing well at the moment” and plan to remain in the official residence during their recovery, from where the president will continue to dispatch. The couple’s son Barron tested negative for the disease, as did Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, with whom Trump met on the 25th, said she was diagnosed with the virus “a few days ago.”
Reaction:European futures markets fall 1% on news of Trump’s Covid-19
The news comes three days after the first presidential debate between the Republican and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. Criticized by allies and opponents, Trump took an aggressive stance, interrupting the former vice president in almost all of his speeches. Given the chaotic nature of the confrontation, experts questioned whether the other two pre-scheduled clashes, on October 15 and 22, would go ahead. Now, they are even more uncertain.
Doubly at risk
Trump is considered to be doubly at risk because he is obese and elderly: Eight of every ten people killed by the disease in the United States were over 65. The president is often reluctant to release details about his health, but he reportedly has high cholesterol and does not exercise. Still, after a medical checkup last year, Conley said her health was “very good.”
Since the pandemic began, Trump has dismissed scientific evidence and recommendations from health officials. He pushed for the recovery of the economy at all costs, got into a fight with cautious governors and questions the effectiveness of the masks, rarely wearing them in public. Hours before being diagnosed, he said “the end of the pandemic was in sight” and, in Tuesday’s debate, mocked his opponent’s stance:
“I don’t wear masks like him,” he said. – Every time you see him, he wears a mask.
Disdain:Trump Mocked Biden for Wearing ‘Too Big a Mask’; see other quotes from the president on Covid-19
Even if Trump does not have a severe case of the disease, the diagnosis certainly hampers his attempts to change the focus of the election campaign: According to opinion polls, most Americans believe that the government’s response to the health crisis does not is adequate. Symbolism can also reshape allies and supporters who strictly follow its recommendations to keep schools open and “resume normal life.”
Back at the polls, his campaign intensified the number of electoral rallies, going against sanitary guidelines with crowds of hundreds of people. On Tuesday he denied that this was dangerous, but now he must be forced to paralyze them. His Friday show, which included a trip to Florida, was canceled. Trips to Wisconsin and Arizona, scheduled for the next few days, are also expected to be suspended.
Read More: ‘A Wild West Shooting’ Say Michigan Trumpists About Presidential Debate With Biden
Sick advisor
Former White House communications director and current adviser, Hope Hicks, is the person closest to the president to have contracted the virus. She traveled with Trump for the presidential debate in Ohio on Tuesday and accompanied her aboard the presidential plane, Air Force One, at a rally in the state of Minnesota on Wednesday night, when she began showing symptoms. On the return flight, he was quarantined and landed through a separate door.
According to Meadows, the chief of staff, Hicks’ diagnosis was reported to top management when Trump left the White House for his campaign event in New Jersey; however, the journey continued. The information was omitted from White House briefings until Bloomberg News first reported it. The official confirmation came directly from Trump, overnight, in the Fox News interview.
Support for:Leaders and officials around the world react to the news that Trump has Covid-19
Trump is the oldest head of state to contract the virus, but not the first: In April, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became so ill that he had to go to the intensive care unit. President Jair Bolsonaro also claimed to have tested positive, as did the leaders of Honduras, Guatemala and Bolivia. Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, also fell ill.
He still does not know how many people at the highest presidential summit, among whom the use of masks is rare, have contracted the disease. In recent months, several US government officials have also been infected, including National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, some Secret Service agents and a Trump chamberlain. Heman Cain, a former presidential candidate, could not resist the infection and died in July after attending a rally in Oklahoma.
Although Covid-19 is deadlier than the common flu, most of those who contract the disease recover. If Trump is disabled, 25a The amendment to the US Constitution allows the temporary transfer of power to the vice president and can resume it when ready.
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