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President Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, the president announced in a tweet overnight. They are among the more than 34 million people around the world who have tested positive for COVID-19 and join a group of world leaders who have had the virus.
The president’s diagnosis sparked a wave of good wishes from other officials, some of whom have battled the coronavirus.
“Best wishes to President Trump and the First Lady,” he tweeted. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who became the first world leader to be confirmed to have the disease in March. “I hope they both recover quickly from the coronavirus.”
When Johnson was initially diagnosed, he said he felt fine. But within days, doctors said, against Johnson’s wishes, that he should go to the hospital, reports CBS News foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata. The prime minister was rushed to hospital and spent time in the ICU.
“For a while, he said himself, he wasn’t sure if he was going to have to use a fan,” D’Agata said Friday on CBSN. “He told President Trump it was a tap and go for a while.”
“So it wasn’t until much later that we realized, and the British public realized, how serious this was,” continued D’Agata.
Johnson was discharged from the hospital in April and said he owed his life to the National Health Service staff who treated him for COVID-19.
Other world leaders who have tested positive for the virus include Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández and Prince Albert II of Monaco. Several senior officials in Iran, including Senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and Vice President Massoumeh Ebtekar, as well as Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu, also tested positive.
In July, after months of downplaying the severity of the virus, Brazil’s president Jair bolsonaro said he had tested positive for COVID-19. Brazil is currently the third most infected country, with 4.8 million reported coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
When Bolsonaro publicly confirmed his diagnosis, he promoted the drug hydroxychloroquine. Bolsonario said he had taken the anti-malaria drug, which is not proven as an effective treatment against COVID-19.
Trump also said in May that he took hydroxychlorquine and zinc to try to prevent a COVID-19 infection. He was taking it after the Food and Drug Administration warned against widespread use, after a study suggested the drug had no benefit for coronavirus patients and was even associated with more deaths.
On Friday, President Trump was experiencing minor symptoms of COVID-19, a White House adviser said. The first lady said she had “mild” symptoms and was feeling fine overall.
