Donald Trump, wife Melania test positive for COVID-19; begin quarantine process

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he and wife Melania Trump have both tested positive for COVID-19. The US president confirmed his coronavirus result through a tweet on Friday morning. He added that both of them will start their quarantine process starting today.  

“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” a tweet from Donald Trump’s official Twitter handle said. 

Trump announced about putting himself in quarantine in a tweet late Thursday night after his close aide Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19. The development is likely to bring to standstill his hectic election campaign. 

“Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for COVID-19. Terrible! The first lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!” Trump said in his initial tweet. 

Hicks, 31, is the closest aid of the president to have tested positive with coronavirus. She had travelled with the president on Air Force One earlier in the week. In the middle of the election campaign, Trump has been travelling a lot in particular in the battleground States.  

In a statement, Judd Deere, the Deputy White House Press Secretary said that the President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously. 

“White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the President is travelling," Deere said.