WASHINGTON – President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus.
The president announced the diagnosis overnight on Twitter, saying in part “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this together!”
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“They remain in good spirits. The president does have mild symptoms,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Friday morning.
Medical experts say the president is in a high risk group and will be monitored closely.
“They’re going to be very vigilant doing that because he does have a couple of risk factors,” says NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres.
The president is 74 years old and overweight. He’s been around dozens of people this week, often unmasked.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was at the White House this week for debate prep.
“No one was wearing masks in the room when we were prepping the President,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America.
The news of the president’s diagnosis came shortly after it was confirmed that Hope Hicks, one of the president’s top aides, had tested positive.
Hicks was with the president at the debate in Cleveland Tuesday and in Minnesota Wednesday when she began having symptoms, which means she could’ve been contagious earlier.
Several White House officials, campaign staffers and Trump family members have been in contact with Hicks in recent days.
She was seen traveling on Air Force One without a mask.
Safety protocols are in place for White House staff.
There’s also concern about Joe Biden, who stood six feet away from the president at Tuesday’s debate.