***UPDATE*** 8:00 A.M. 10/3/20
WASHINGTON (AP) – A feverish and fatigued President Donald Trump was spending the weekend at a military hospital for treatment of COVID-19, as new cases emerged among some of his top advisers and allies.
Attention focused in particular on last Saturday’s White House event introducing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, with several attendees announcing they had tested positive for the virus.
Among them: former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, the president of the University of Notre Dame, and at least two Republican lawmakers – Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis.
Though the ceremony announcing Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination was held outdoors, attendees sat closely together and few wore masks. Some also mingled at a smaller event inside the White House.
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***UPDATE*** 5:45 P.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and released a video saying that he thinks he’s “doing very well.”
President Donald Trump appeared in public Friday evening for the first time since being stricken by COVID-19, boarding his Marine One helicopter for a flight to a military hospital as the virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans spread to the highest reaches of the U.S. government.
The White House said the visit of “a few days” to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was precautionary and that Trump would continue to work from the hospital’s presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties.
Trump walked out of the White House and gave a thumbs-up but did not speak. Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to protect themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.
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***UPDATE*** 5 P.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) –President Donald Trump will spend a “few days” at Walter Reed Medical Center. He’s reportedly had a fever and felt “fatigued” since Friday morning.
Trump was to depart from the White House Friday evening by helicopter. The president will be working from the hospital’s presidential suite, continuing his official duties.
***UPDATE*** 4:17 P.M. 10/2/20
According to a White House pool report, President Trump is headed to Walter Reed Medical Center. He’s reportedly had a fever and felt “fatigued” since Friday morning.
***UPDATE*** 4 P.M. 10/2/20
Spokesperson Heather Sager from Congresswoman Cheri Bustos’s office has confirmed to WMBD News Bustos has been informed she has tested negative for COVID-19.
Bustos had been in the audience at Tuesday night’s debate.
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***UPDATE*** 2:30 P.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House does not appear to be making any changes to current virus protocol, even after President Donald Trump and the first lady tested positive for COVID-19.
A senior White House official said Friday that masks will still not be mandatory at the White House, describing facial coverings as “a personal choice,” despite overwhelming evidence that they help to stop the spread.
And the White House is not planning to move to a different, more reliable testing system after the one it uses failed to detect that adviser Hope Hicks had the virus the day she began experiencing symptoms.
The president, his White House and his campaign have generally taken a lax approach to the pandemic, continuing to hold large events and failing to abide by social distancing recommendations.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House thinking, defended the current system.
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***UPDATE*** 12:15 A.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is moving forward with plans to travel to Michigan on Friday after he and his wife, Jill, tested negative for the coronavirus.
The Democratic presidential nominee had planned on traveling to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to talk about the economy on Friday morning. His trip was delayed by several hours as he awaited the test results.
He was tested for the virus after attending Tuesday’s debate with President Donald Trump. The president said early Friday that he and his wife, Melania Trump, tested positive for coronavirus.
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***UPDATE*** 11:55 A.M. 10/2/20
A statement to WMBD News from Heather Sager, Spokesperson for 17th Dist. Rep. Cheri Bustos:
“Congresswoman Bustos attended Tuesday’s debate, but she was not in contact with the President. She followed best practices, including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, as she regularly does.
“In addition, she was tested the day before and received a negative result. As a precautionary measure, as she often does prior to returning to Illinois, the Congresswoman was tested this morning and is following all advice of the Attending Physician.”
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***UPDATE*** 11:20 A.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden has tested negative for the coronavirus, his primary care doctor confirmed on Friday.
The Democratic presidential nominee and his wife were tested earlier in the day after news of President Donald Trump’s infection was announced.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor released the negative results in a statement issued by the Biden campaign. Biden was on the debate stage with Trump for more than 90 minutes earlier in the week. It’s still unclear if Biden will hold campaign events later in the day.
Biden, in a social media post, thanked his supporters for “messages of concern.” He added: “I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands.”
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***UPDATE*** 11:15 A.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump says she is experiencing “mild symptoms” after she and President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
“Thank you for the love you are sending our way. I have mild symptoms but overall feeling good. I am looking forward to a speedy recovery,” she tweeted Friday morning.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said President Trump was also experiencing mild symptoms, but continues to work from the White House residence as he quarantines. The Trump’s youngest child, Barron, 14, has tested negative for the virus.
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***UPDATE*** 10 A.M. 10/2/20
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is experiencing “mild symptoms” of COVID-19 after revealing early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a stunning announcement that plunged the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.
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***UPDATE*** 9 A.M. 10/2/20
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood has confirmed with WMBD News he has not been in recent close contact with the President.
A similar inquiry has been sent to 17th District Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.
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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a stunning announcement that plunges the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.
Trump, who has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans, said he and Mrs. Trump were quarantining. The White House physician said the president is expected to continue carrying out his duties “without disruption” while recovering.
Still, Trump’s diagnosis was sure to have a destabilizing effect in Washington, raising questions about how far the virus had spread through the highest levels of the U.S. government. Hours before Trump announced he had contracted the virus, the White House said a top aide who had traveled with him during the week had tested positive.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately,” Trump tweeted just before 1 a.m. “We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and did not appear visibly ill. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide.
The president’s physician said in a memo that Trump and the first lady, who is 50, “are both well at this time” and “plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.”
The diagnosis marks a devastating blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them. In the best of cases, if he develops no symptoms, which can include fever, cough and breathing trouble, it will force him off the campaign trail just weeks before the election.
Trump’s handling of the pandemic has already been a major flashpoint in his race against Democrat Joe Biden, who spent much of the summer off the campaign trail and at his home in Delaware because of the virus. Biden has since resumed a more active campaign schedule, but with small, socially distanced crowds. He also regularly wears a mask in public, something Trump mocked him for at Tuesday night’s debate.
“I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said of Biden. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
