This year has been relentless for US President Donald Trump and his administration. Thursday, he and the first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. One of the top officials has also tested positive for COVID-19 and they had to be quarantined after this incident. This has disrupted all of the public appearances he was supposed to make before the election.
Thursday night, the White House announced that Trump aide, Hope Hicks, has been sick with the virus. He was also traveling with Donald Trump over the past few weeks, explaining why Donald Trump immediately tested positive hours after. Reporters last saw him on Thursday night when the president seemed to be healthy and functioning.
Considering Donald Trump is over 74 years old and overweight, he is in the high-risk group that can cause serious complications due to the virus. Over 2 million people worldwide have already died, and the first lady has also tested positive for the virus. They are both heading down to quarantine and will start the recovery process immediately. Trump tweeted that they are staying strong, and they are going to get through this together.
It was not clear after the first news broke that Hope Hicks was feeling sick with the virus. Reporters and media had no idea what to make of the news until Trump’s announcement came. There are no rapid tests available in the US. The available test can take up to days to get a result, which might have caused the delay in catching this.
What does this mean for the Trump campaign?
The COVID-19 diagnosis could be a major problem for the campaign because the president has constantly been trying to reach more Americans to promote his policies. He has also repeatedly told that the worst of the pandemic was already behind irrespective of what the numbers were.
Worldwide, COVID-19 is the most serious public health issue encountered by any country, including the United States. The president is probably coming down with all the usual symptoms in the next few days, including cough, fever, and breathing issues. Supporters and aides hope that the president will only develop some mild symptoms. However, some people get badly affected by the virus and develop symptoms that could require hospitalization or result in fatality.
Fox News host, Sean Hannity, had an interview with the president on Thursday, and he reported that the president was waiting on the COVID-19 test results. At that time, the White House was not sure whether the president was positive, and the first lady, Melania Trump, was also waiting for her results.
Hope Hicks, the senior trump aide, traveled for the US president’s campaigning activities for many different activities in Marine One, the presidential helicopter. They have also traveled on the Air Force One to rallies in Minnesota and Cleveland.
What does this mean for the opening of states?
Trump has always been a proponent of reopening the economy, and he has acknowledged governors to take matters into their own hands and reopen the states. This will help the businesses thrive and recover some of the losses suffered during the pandemic. However, considering that COVID-19 poses serious health risks for the elderly, it is unclear how the White House is planning to approach the issues.
An already worried nation is now struggling with the realities of Donald Trump being sick. The vice president will be stepping in on his behalf while the president is recovering. Although all of Trump’s staff were being given frequent tests for detecting COVID-19 every week, Hope Hicks had not shown a positive result in any of these lists.
Unfortunately, it’s all collided after they were diagnosed with the virus together. Trump has reported that he has started quarantine with the first lady. While Trump recovers, Mike Pence could probably be the acting president of the country.
