Trump tests negative for coronavirus ahead of Florida rally – White House doctor

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House physician announced, shortly before the start of a campaign rally in Sanford, Florida on Monday, his first since he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

The president has tested negative “on consecutive days,” Dr. Sean Conley said in a statement released to the press by White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

This implies that Trump’s first negative test happened sometime over the weekend. On Saturday, he addressed an event from the White House balcony, from a considerable distance away from the gathered crowd.

“Repeatedly negative antigen tests, taken in context with additional clinical and laboratory data, including viral load, subgenomic RNA, and PCR cycle threshold measurements, as well as ongoing assessment of viral culture date, all indicate a lack of detectable viral replication,” said Conley.

Trump tested positive for Covid-19 late on October 1, two days after the presidential debate in Ohio. The following day, he went in for treatment at the Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, near Washington, DC. He spent three days at the hospital, but returned to the White House last Monday and continued to work.

Monday evening’s rally in Sanford, Florida is Trump’s first official campaign rally since he was diagnosed with Covid-19. First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive, had stayed at the White House residence and is also reportedly recovering from mild symptoms.

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