Cheeto & Malaria Both Have Tested POSITIVE for COVID 19!!
President Donald Trump tweets he and first lady Melania Trump test positive for Covid-19
By Kaitlan Collins, Betsy Klein, Jim Acosta and Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Updated 1:15 AM ET, Fri October 2, 2020
Trump tweets he's starting 'quarantine process'
(CNN)President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus, the President announced early Friday morning.
"Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" Trump tweeted shortly before 1 am Friday.
The President had said earlier in the night that he planned to quarantine.
"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 tweeted Thursday night.
Hicks has traveled with the President multiple times recently, including to the debate in Cleveland on Tuesday, and was seen boarding Marine One, along with several other of the President's closest aides -- Jared Kushner, Dan Scavino and Nicholas Luna -- none of whom wore masks, on Wednesday as Trump was heading to a campaign rally in Minnesota.
"She did test positive, I just heard about this. She tested positive. She's a hard worker. Lot of masks, she wears masks a lot but she tested positive. Then I just went out with a test. I'll see -- you know, because we spent a lot of time -- and the first lady just went out with a test also. So whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don't know," Trump said during a call-in appearance on Fox News' "Hannity."
He added, "I just went for a test and we'll see what happens, I mean, who knows. ... I spent a lot of time with Hope and so does the first lady, and she's tremendous."
While it's unclear what the President's "quarantine process" will look like, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines state that a 14-day quarantine should take place after the last known exposure to someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. This is because the incubation period for the novel coronavirus can be up to two weeks.
News of Hicks' positive test comes amid continued efforts by the Trump administration to blatantly disregard science and best public health practices during the pandemic, with West Wing staff actively eschewing masks and the President defying recommendations from his own coronavirus task force, proceeding with a busy schedule of packed campaign ralies. Trump and his key aides have shown little interest in changing practices of his staff to meet the needs of the moment.
Trump, in his Fox News interview, speculated that Hicks could have contracted the virus from an interaction with a supporter.
"She's a very warm person. She has a hard time, when soldiers and law enforcement comes up to her, you know, she wants to treat them great, not say, 'Stay away, I can't get near you.' It's a very, very tough disease," he said.
A source close to Hicks told CNN that she is experiencing symptoms and is back in Washington. A source familiar with Hicks' symptoms describes her as being achy and feeling pretty bad. CNN has reached out to Hicks for comment.
"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 spokesman Judd Deere told CNN in a statement when asked about the level of contact between Hicks and Trump.
The White House made no mention of Hicks by name, nor did it confirm she had tested positive.
"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 traveling," Deere added.
Some White House staffers who were in close proximity were notified of the positive test result today, one official said.
This development was first reported by Bloomberg News.
"I don't know about more than one," Trump responded to a reporter who asked why he was tested more than once a day. "I do probably on average a test every two days, three days, and I don't know of any time I've taken two in one day, but I could see that happening."
This story has been updated with additional developments on Thursday night and Friday morning.
CNN's Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
Trump 'in a race' against Covid-19 and experimental treatment makes it 'a fair fight'
Trump 'in a race' against Covid-19 and experimental treatment makes it 'a fair fight,' Regeneron CEO says
By Shelby Lin Erdman, CNN
Updated 10:53 PM ET, Fri October 2, 2020
ER doctor on Trump's antibody treatment: We don't know exactly what the efficacy is for this drug
(CNN)President Donald Trump is now "in a race" against the coronavirus, the CEO of biotechnology company Regeneron said Friday after the drug maker provided a dose of its experimental antibody treatment to the President.
"He's in a race where his immune system is racing against the virus, and if the virus wins you can have dire consequences, obviously, and what our antibodies do is we make it a fair fight," Dr. Leonard Schleifer told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"He's in a higher risk group for a variety of reasons such as being older, and if we give our antibodies, we hope that we will give his immune system enough of a boost so that he can win this and make a complete recovery," Schleifer said.
Regeneron's experimental monoclonal antibody treatment is still in large-scale clinical trials, but is available for compassionate use, something the US Food and Drug and Administration has to approve on an individual basis.
"We've got a lot of data but we're still in the experimental phase, but when you're in the midst of a pandemic and you have people at risk, we think it makes sense to try these," Schleifer said.
Trump received a single 8 gram dose of Regeneron's dual antibody cocktail Friday and completed the infusion without incident, the President's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said in a statement.
"In addition to the polyclonal antibodies, the President has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin," Conley said.
A single high-dose of Regeneron's antibody treatment should do the trick, Schleifer said.
"It's a large enough dose, so that it'll last for quite a long time, hopefully even beyond when he's made a complete recovery," he said. "We have evidence ready that these are long lasting in the body, as you'd expect with this type of therapy."
The cocktail includes two monoclonal antibodies—lab-engineered versions of immune system proteins targeted specifically against coronavirus.
"It's not all that complicated. We're just trying to mimic the natural immune system, which really isn't ready to go when the virus is already going," Schleifer said.
Concerns about experimental antibody therapy
But an emergency medicine doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Dr. Jeremy Faust, has been outspoken about giving the President an unapproved treatment.
"We don't give this medication out, not because you're not special enough to get it, (but) because we don't yet know," he said.
Early data shows promising results from Regeneron's antibody cocktail for coronavirus
"We do a risk and benefit analysis of everything and if I can't tell my patient what the benefit is, there's no conversation to be had," Faust told CNN.
He also said giving the unproven treatment to Trump just doesn't look good.
"This is not ready for prime time and, quite frankly, it sends a message that they're scrambling," Faust said.
Other patients may seek the same treatment, he said.
"I can't look them in the eye and tell them that I know anything about it, in terms of its risks and benefits. That's a pretty bad precedent," Faust said.
But Schleifer says Regeneron is seeing promising results in its clinical trials.
And the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Thomas Frieden, agreed.
Regeneron's experimental monoclonal antibody therapy to treat the coronavirus, although it's unproven, is "a promising treatment," said Frieden, the CEO of the health initiative Resolve to Save Lives.
"We don't know if it'll be helpful, but it's something that is not unreasonable to try," he said.
"There's a report that only fewer than 300 patients have received it. It seems to be most effective early in the disease, especially before patients make antibodies of their own."
Trump, who was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Hospital Friday evening, received the monoclonal antibody therapy earlier in the day, but Schleifer would not confirm whether first lady Melania Trump had also received the treatment.
Jen Christensen contributed to this story.
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