President Donald Trump’s 14-year-old son, Barron, tested positive for COVID-19 but exhibited no symptoms, after both his parents contracted the virus, first lady Melania Trump has said.
“Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms,” Melania Trump said in a statement on Wednesday. She said she and Barron had since tested negative for the virus.
“Barron’s fine,” the president told reporters as he departed the White House for a campaign trip to Iowa.
Melania Trump said her symptoms were “minimal” and that she hoped to resume her duties as first lady “as soon as I can”.
“I experienced body aches, a cough and headaches, and felt extremely tired most of the time,” she said.
“I chose to go a more natural route in terms of medicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food.”
President Trump has called his bout with COVID-19 a “blessing in disguise”. He spent three nights in a military hospital after announcing on October 2 that he and Melania had tested positive.
To treat the virus, he received an experimental dual-antibody therapy developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral remdesivir, as well as the steroid dexamethasone.
“In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together,” Melania Trump said.
Mrs Trump did not explain why Barron’s positive diagnosis was not made public earlier, but she has fiercely protected the ninth-grader’s privacy.
COVID-19 has killed more than 216,000 people in the US and infected more than 7.9 million people, according to the latest count from Johns Hopkins University.
Most coronavirus patients suffer mild to moderate symptoms and recover quickly, typically anywhere from two to six weeks, according to the World Health Organization, though older, sicker patients tend to take longer to get well.
SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES
