United States President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the White House physician said. (Photo Credit: File Photo)
New Delhi:
United States President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the White House physician said. Trump had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night. The results came out in less than 24 hours. "Last night, after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding the COVID-19 test, he elected to proceed. This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative," Dr Sean Conley, the presidential physician, said in a memorandum to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Saturday.
"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," he said.
"I have been in the daily contact with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the White House Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation," Conley added.
Trump was tested after his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, whom he met last weekend, tested negative for COVID-19. However, Bolsonaro’s communications chief Fabio Wajngarten, who accompanied him in the meeting with Trump, tested positive for coronavirus.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham had said, “President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him”, adding that Trump did not receive COVID-19 testing because he has neither been in a prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor he displayed any symptoms.
In the wake of possible transmission of coronavirus, the medical unit in the White House and the United States Secret Service are working in tandem with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the first and second Families, and all White House staff healthy.
Moreover, US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency over coronavirus under Stafford Act to provide additional federal aid to states and localities. The move is likely to help in opening up tens of billions of dollars to help fight the rapidly transmitting COVID-19 pandemic. Taking to Twitter, Trump wrote, "I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus."
