First lady Melania Trump posted a personal essay on the White House website detailing her experience battling Covid-19, which she tested positive for approximately two weeks ago.
The first lady also revealed that her son, Barron Trump, 14, who the White House publicly confirmed at the time had tested negative, eventually tested positive for the virus, a diagnosis the White House did not share, according to CNN.
She has now tested negative for the virus, as has her husband, President Donald Trump, according to his doctors.
“Naturally, my mind went immediately to our son,” she wrote. Barron Trump initially tested negative after she and the President contracted Covid. But the teenager was tested again and turned up positive. Trump says her son had “no symptoms,” and has now tested negative.
The President told reporters on Wednesday that Barron is doing “fine” when asked how his son was doing in the wake of Melania Trump’s essay. He later called Barron “beautiful” and “free” at a campaign rally in Iowa on Wednesday evening.
Barron, the President said, “had it for such a short period of time.”
“I don’t even think he knew he had it, because they’re young and their immune systems are strong and they fight it off. 99.9%. And Barron is beautiful and he’s free,” he continued.
As for her symptoms, the first lady wrote they were “minimal, though they hit me all at once and it seemed to be a roller coaster of symptoms in the days after.” She said she had body aches, cough, headaches and was extremely tired.
Unlike her husband, Melania Trump did not go to the hospital for treatment, and remained sequestered at the White House residence, her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told CNN.
Similarly, Trump writes she did not opt for the same course of treatment as the President, she says she “chose a more natural route,” relying on “vitamins and healthy food,” and not a cocktail of medications.
Though the first lady taped a couple of PSAs about mask-wearing while her husband was still flouting their use, she has also made high-profile appearances without them — including the first presidential debate. She also gave a Rose Garden speech filled with an audience during the Republican National Convention.
The first lady was also mask-less at the Rose Garden more recently, at the ceremony to announce Trump’s new Supreme Court justice nominee, an event that has since been labeled by Dr. Anthony Fauci as a possible “super spreader” of Covid-19.
On solo events, including a trip last month to New Hampshire, her first travel since the onset of the pandemic, the first lady did wear a mask, except when boarding and exiting her government aircraft.
Since the first couple’s diagnosis, the executive residence staff have taken precautions to protect themselves and others, including wearing masks and personal protective equipment, according to a release from the first lady’s office.
The President has shown little concern about spreading the virus, however, traveling in recent days to speak before crowds of thousands, and has baselessly claimed he is now “immune” to the virus. He has also shown little empathy for others who have fallen ill or have lost family and friends to Covid-19, opting instead to mock those — particularly his rival, Joe Biden — who wear masks and practice social distancing among other CDC and public health guidelines.
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