President Trump said Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, just a month before the presidential election and after having spent much of the last year largely downplaying the threat of the virus, the AP reports. Trump's positive test came just hours after he confirmed that senior aide Hope Hicks, who had traveled with him several times this week, had come down with the virus. Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and looked to be in good health. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 205,000 people nationwide. "Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19," he tweeted.
"We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately," he went on. "We will get through this TOGETHER!" In a memorandum, the president's physician said 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." He added that "rest assured I expect the President to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering." The diagnosis, just weeks before the Nov. 3 election, marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them, despite a growing nationwide death toll of more than 205,000 and 7 million confirmed infections.
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