US President Donald Trump has tested negative for COVID-19, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe.
Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.
“This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” the US president’s physician Sean Conley said in a Saturday memo.
Photo: AP
Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease, which has killed at least 60 Americans and infected nearly 3,000, with millions working from home and schools shut.
New York City, the most populous in the US, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.
In New Jersey, Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called for a citywide self-quarantine after 18 cases were confirmed in the township.
“What we are saying is that we are ground zero,” Hameeduddin said.
US Vice President Mike Pence announced further curbs on travel to the US, saying that a ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the UK and Ireland tomorrow.
The restrictions threw airports across the country into disarray, with incoming travelers forced to wait hours for medical screenings before passing through customs.
Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker said the long lines at Chicago’s O’Hare airport were “unacceptable.”
“The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW,” he tweeted.
US Department of Homeland Security acting secretary Chad Wolf said that his office was working with airlines to improve screening times.
Trump advised against non-essential travel and said officials were also considering imposing domestic restrictions.
“If you don’t have to travel, I wouldn’t do it,” Trump said at a White House news conference. “We want this thing to end.”
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 5,800 lives in at least 137 countries.
Repeatedly attacked for sending out mixed signals on the health crisis, the US president raised eyebrows on Friday when, contrary to medical advice, he was seen shaking hands as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House.
On Saturday, he blamed habit — “people put their hand out ... you don’t think about it” — but said it would have to change.
“Maybe people shouldn’t be shaking hands for the long term,” said Trump, a self-declared germophobe.
Trump’s virus test came after contact with the Brazilian delegation as well as US lawmakers and political leaders who have gone into self-quarantine over potential infection.
On Saturday, a 30-day US ban took effect on all travel from the EU’s Schengen border-free zone, part of a global clampdown on travel to curtail the virus.
Pence said the ban would include the UK and Ireland as of midnight today.
Both countries had been excluded from the initial ban.
“Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal [US] residents can come home,” Pence said.
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