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meIn the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, United States President Donald Trump put his faith in a toaster-sized machine that could yield test results in a matter of minutes.
In late March, Trump praised Abbott Laboratories’ launch of the ID NOW test at a Rose Garden event and embraced its widespread use at the White House to keep the deadly virus at bay.
The president often skipped his own administration’s public health recommendations on mask use and social distancing, explaining that “everyone gets tested” around him using the Abbott device.
However, with the news Friday that Trump and his wife Melania tested positive for the virus, infectious disease experts have criticized the president’s strategy.
“Reliance on a rapid test, with its limitations, unfortunately gave the White House and its staff a false sense of security that they were in control of the virus,” said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at the University School. from Vanderbilt. Medicine.
Krutika Kuppalli, an assistant professor and infectious disease expert at the Medical University of South Carolina, said: “Trump was playing with fire and it was really a matter of time before something like this happened,” she said.
“Even if Trump had been around someone who was sick, wearing a mask could have prevented him from contracting the virus.”
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