{"id":248348,"date":"2020-03-14T05:27:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T09:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=248348"},"modified":"2020-03-14T05:27:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T09:27:19","slug":"trump-says-hes-likely-to-be-tested-after-repeat-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/03\/14\/trump-says-hes-likely-to-be-tested-after-repeat-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says he’s likely to be tested after repeat exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Trump has now had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus, which on Friday prompted him to declare a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were cancelled and Americans braced for war against the threat. (File photo<\/a>: Donald J. Trump\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump said Friday he will \u201cmost likely\u201d be tested for the novel coronavirus, as questions swirled about why he, his top aides and his family weren’t doing more to protect themselves and others after repeated exposure to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Trump has now had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus, which on Friday prompted him to declare a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were cancelled and Americans braced for war against the threat.<\/p>\n

Trump spent time last weekend at his private club in Florida with a top Brazilian official who later tested positive. And late Friday, news broke that a second person at Mar-a-Lago \u2014 who attended a fundraiser with Trump Sunday \u2014 tested positive, according to two Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private health matters. Several top administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr and Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump, met last week with an Australian Cabinet minister who on Friday was confirmed positive.<\/p>\n

Multiple lawmakers and citizens across the country who have had the same degree of exposure have opted to voluntarily quarantine themselves and get tested out of an abundance of caution.<\/p>\n

But Trump, who has long tried to minimize the threat posed by the virus, insisted Friday \u2014 contrary to the advice of many medical professionals \u2014 that he did not need to isolate himself because he wasn’t exhibiting symptoms. He conceded that he would \u201cmost likely\u201d submit to testing \u201cfairly soon,\u201d but continued to flout public health officials’ advice by repeatedly shaking with attendees hands during a Rose Garden press conference on efforts to combat the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Even so, Trump told the nation, \u201cAll Americans have a role to play in defeating this virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone can be a carrier for the virus and risk transmission to older Americans and those with underlying health conditions,\u201d Trump said, adding, \u201cWe must take all precautions and be responsible for the actions that we take and that we see other people take.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president, according to two people close to the White House, has been reluctant to take the test for fear it would project weakness or worry. Trump has wanted to appear in full control during the crisis, especially as he tries to calm stock markets amid historic drops, and has expressed concerns that taking personal steps could undermine that appearance.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he was being selfish by refusing to isolate himself to avoid potentially infecting others and what advice he had for people who may be receiving contradictory messages, Trump said, \u201cI think they have to listen to their doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump spent time last weekend with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s communications director, Fabio Wajngarten, who has tested positive for the virus. Wajngarten posed for a photo with Trump and attended a birthday party held for Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is dating the president’s eldest son. Trump and multiple top administration officials were present.<\/p>\n

The White House stressed that Trump \u201chad almost no interactions\u201d with Wajngarten while at Mar-a-Lago and therefore did \u201cnot require being tested at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republican officials declined to name the second person who had tested positive at the club and it was unclear how much time Trump had spent with that person.<\/p>\n

In addition to his direct exposure, Trump has also had repeated contact with lawmakers who chose to isolate themselves after being exposed to people who later tested positive. That included Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who travelled aboard Air Force One with the president Monday and found out about the positive test mid-flight; South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was working from home after spending time at Mar-a-Lago and attending his own meeting with Peter Dutton, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs; and Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who also interacted with the Brazilian delegation.<\/p>\n

White House spokesman Judd Deere said Ivanka Trump, who met with Dutton, worked from home Friday \u201cout of an abundance of caution,\u201d but said Dutton had been asymptomatic during their interaction, so the White House Medical Unit determined she was \u201cexhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine.\u201d<\/p>\n

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway said she’d received the same instructions, \u201cin accordance with CDC guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise those who have been in \u201cclose contact with a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19\u201d to remain home and practice social distancing, but experts’ guidance has been mixed when it comes to those who are not exhibiting symptoms.<\/p>\n

People who are exposed to the virus don’t show symptoms immediately; there is an incubation period of anywhere from two to 14 days. And the CDC is most concerned with close contact, which it defines as being coughed on or within about 6 feet of someone who is sick for a prolonged period of time. The CDC doesn’t consider it risky to walk past someone with the virus or to be briefly in the same room with them.<\/p>\n

Many doctors across the country, however, have been advising those with any exposure to take precautions. And Trump, who is 73, is considered to be at higher risk of developing serious complications because of his age.<\/p>\n

The president should get tested, even if he is not exhibiting symptoms, said Stephen Morse, a Columbia University expert on the spread of diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who’s infected is a risk of spreading it to other people,\u201d he said. \u201cThat can be true of people who are infected but don’t have symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at the George Washington University Milken School of Public Health who once served as the health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, said COVID-19 is \u201chighly transmittable\u201d and anyone who comes within six feet of someone who is infected could become infected and spread it, without even knowing they are sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at a time of an international public health emergency,\u201d she said, so everybody should abide by public health guidelines, \u201cno matter their position or their title.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any administration official with known exposure, she said, \u201cshould follow the same guidance as anyone else\u201d and be self-quarantining and monitoring their symptoms.<\/p>\n

As for the president, she said, \u201cin order to be the commander-in-chief of the country … he needs to take care of himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Michael Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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