THE news spread quickly around the United States and around the world Friday – President Donald Trump and First Lady Melanie Trump both had COVID-19.
He had apparently got it from one of his closest advisers, Hope Hicks, who had travelled with him to Cleveland for the first presidential debate with Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden last Tuesday, and in a campaign rally in Minnesota the next day.
On Thursday, Hicks was found to have come down with the virus and President and Mrs. Trump underwent tests and they were found positive. The President was airlifted by presidential helicopter Friday to the Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he is expected to stay for the next 13 days.
Trump is the latest world leader to fall victim to the coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom fell ill in March, along with Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin of Russia fell ill in April, followed by President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, interim President Jeanine Anez of Bolivia along with seven of her ministers, President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala, President Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton of Australia, and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire of France. Former President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi died in June. Former President Pranab Mukherjee of India died in August.
Much more than any of these world figures, President Trump stands out as a victim of COVID-19. The nation he leads, the United States, is the world’s biggest economy today, with great influence on political and military developments around the world.
There is also a political twist in the Trump story. In July, he was seen on television as saying in an interview, “The Democrats are politicizing the virus. You know that, right? They are politicizing it.” He then referred to the efforts of the Democrats to impeach him. “They tried the impeachment hoax.” He said. “And this is their new hoax.”
Trump said he was playing down the virus threat in public, so as to avoid panic. He refused for months to wear a face mask in public, even when the nation’s health officials were calling on all Americans to do so. In the process, many of Trump’s followers also refused to wear face masks or follow social distancing. This could be one reason the US today has the biggest number of infections and deaths, more than any other nation in the world.
Last Friday, as he walked on the White House lawn to the presidential helicopter that was to take him to the hospital in Maryland, President Trump finally wore a black face mask. We hope he will quickly recover from his coronavirus infection and his many follower will be encouraged to see and follow his example, follow the protocols on face masks and social distancing, and help in the world effort to end the ongoing pandemic.