Trump doctor says president has tested negative for novel coronavirus

WASHINGTON: The doctor President Donald Trump has said the US leader has tested negative for novel coronavirus.

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“This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” Sean Conley, White House physician, said in a statement on Saturday.

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Mr Trump underwent a test days after hosting a meeting at his Florida resort with a Brazilian delegation, some of whom have tested positive.

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Fabio Wajngarten, an aide to the Brazilian president, was among those later confirmed to have the disease.

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“One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free,”  Conley said.

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Trump, aged 73, did not self-isolate after that meeting, saying he had no symptoms.

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But after a barrage of further questions during a new conference at the White House, he said he would get tested.

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He was checked on Friday, the White House physician said.

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“I have been in daily contact with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation,” Conley’s statement said.

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Official US advice is that people who have contact with a confirmed case should stay at home for 14 days.

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The US has more than 2,700 confirmed cases, with 54 deaths.

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On Friday, President Trump declared a national state of emergency to release $50bn (£40bn) to fight the spread of the virus.

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Mar-a-Lago visit

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Wajngarten, a press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, posted a photograph of himself standing close to Mr Trump.

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The Brazilian official tested positive several days after that visit.

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Other Brazilians in Bolsonaro’s entourage at Mar-a-Lago have since tested positive including lawyer Karina Kufa, Senator Nelsinho Trad and Brazil’s ambassador to the US, Nestor Forster.

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Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — who also met Wajngarten during his US trip — said on Friday that he had been infected.

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Suarez, 42, announced on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, four days after the mayor attended a local event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus.

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Suarez became one of the first US elected officials to learn he had COVID-19 and enter isolation.

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Suarez was one of several politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Sen. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump, who interacted with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff during a visit to South Florida last week.

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Suarez was in the same room as Wajngarten and Bolsonaro on two occasions Monday during the Brazilian delegation’s visit.

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