Trump Says He’s Been Tested for Coronavirus After Exposure

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he took a test to determine whether he has coronavirus, after learning that he’d recently come in contact with people who were infected or are concerned they may have the virus.

At a White House news conference on Saturday, Trump said he doesn’t have a fever and took the test in response to repeated media inquiries.

“I also took the test last night, and I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday,” Trump said. “People were asking, did I take the test?”

Trump had said earlier that White House doctors told him he didn’t need to be tested. He said Saturday that he reversed course because “the press is going crazy about it.”

A week ago, Trump attended a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. A close aide to Bolsonaro also in attendance was photographed standing next to Trump, and later tested positive for the virus. Bolsonaro has also been tested; the results came back negative for the virus.

Someone else who attended a campaign event at the resort but didn’t have direct contact with the president also tested positive for the virus, according to a person familiar with the matter.

At-Risk Age

At 73, Trump is part of the age group considered by medical experts to be more likely to become seriously ill if he contracted the novel coronavirus. Bolsonaro is 64 but had multiple surgeries following a near-fatal stabbing on the campaign trail in 2018.

Every official who was in the White House Situation Room for a coronavirus meeting with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday morning had their temperature taken. All of them passed. The bar was a temperature of less than 100 degrees.

The White House also took the temperature of reporters before they were allowed into the briefing room. At least one was ejected after registering a slight fever.

Pence said he and second lady Karen Pence hadn’t been tested for coronavirus and were told Friday night that they didn’t have symptoms or contact with infected individuals that would suggest testing was necessary. But, Pence said, he planned to speak with the White House medical staff after learning the president had been screened.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, was also at the Mar-a-Lago gathering last weekend and announced Thursday that he has decided to self-quarantine. Graham said he was in contact with an Australian official who later tested positive for coronavirus.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is currently governing from home and plans to remain in isolation for two weeks after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for Covid-19. Others in the political realm, including U.K. Health Minister Nadine Dorries, have also tested positive.

--With assistance from Anna Waters.

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Ros Krasny

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