Even as US President Donald Trump announced that both he and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19, the POTUS is now considering an address to the nation in a bid to prove that he is “still fit to lead the country despite being diagnosed with the virus”, the Daily Mail reports.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters that the doctors continued to monitor Trump's health and would be providing updates.
"He continued to be not only in good spirits but very energetic. We talked a number of times this morning," Meadows remarked. “I am optimistic that he will have a very quick and speedy recovery."
According to The New York Times, a "person briefed on the matter" said that Trump had "fallen asleep at one point on Air Force One on the way back from a rally in Minnesota on Wednesday night", and Bloomberg reports that some of the President's aides said "they sensed on Wednesday that Trump was feeling poorly but they chalked it up to fatigue from an intense campaign schedule".
It wasn't immediately clear, however, exactly how the US President contracted the coronavirus, though mainstream media have speculated that Trump may have caught the virus from one of his aides, Hope Hicks, on board Air Force One en route to Tuesday’s televised debate against Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden in Ohio.
Earlier on 2 October, Trump tweeted that he and Melania will begin their “quarantine and recovery process immediately", and that they will "get through this together".
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Melania herself also tweeted that she has “mild symptoms but overall feeling good”, and that she's "looking forward to a speedy recovery".
Thank you for the love you are sending our way. I have mild symptoms but overall feeling good. I am looking forward to a speedy recovery.
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2020
