Donald Trump coronavirus: Who else in the White House has tested positive?

3 October 2020, 10:33 | Updated: 3 October 2020, 15:46

Donald Trump’s coronavirus hospitalisation has thrown the US presidential election into turmoil and sent shockwaves through the campaign - and a growing number of those around him are testing positive too. 

Kellyanne Conway, the president’s former counsellor, became the latest to confirm she had tested positive late on Friday with “mild” symptoms. 

The source of the outbreak is unknown, but hundreds packed into the Rose Garden last Saturday for the US president’s announcement of Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court nominee. 

At least nine figures in attendance at the ceremony, where social distancing and masks were in short supply, have now tested positive for Covid-19. 

Who at the White House has got coronavirus? 

Mr Trump’s counsellor and one of his closest advisers, Hope Hicks, tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, prompting the US President and First Lady Melania Trump to get tests - which came back positive. 

Two Republican senators, Thom Tillis and Mike Lee who both sit on the prestigious Senate judiciary committee, also announced they have also tested positive.

Mr Lee, who did not wear a mask at the White House event and was filmed hugging and shaking hands with attendees, said he had “symptoms consistent with longtime allergies”.

Mr Tillis, who donned a mask, said he has no symptoms. 

Both said they will quarantine for 10 days – ending just before Ms Barrett’s confirmation hearings begin on 12 October.

Also present was University of Notre Dame’s president, John Jenkins, who was later diagnosed with the disease.

Mr Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien has also tested positive for coronavirus and was experiencing “mild flu-like symptoms”, as did Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee.

According to reports, 11 Trump staffers tested positive after the first US presidential debate in Cleveland Ohio, and three White House reporters have also been infected, making it 23 individuals total.

What is the latest on Donald Trump’s condition?

US President Donald Trump has been taken to a military hospital after being injected with an experimental antibody cocktail at the White House following his coronavirus diagnosis.

The White House said Mr Trump’s expected stay of “a few days” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre was precautionary and that he would continue to work from the hospital’s presidential suite.

Donald Trump delivers video message after testing positive for Covid

He walked out of the White House on Friday evening wearing a mask and gave a thumbs-up to reporters but did not speak before boarding Marine One.

Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to protect themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.

In a video message recorded before leaving for Walter Reed, Mr Trump said: “I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out.”

“Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!” he wrote in his first tweet from the hospital on Friday night.

Mr Trump’s immediate campaign events were all cancelled, and his next debate with Democrat Joe Biden, scheduled for October 15, is now in question.

LBC Washington Correspondent gives latest on Trump testing positive for Covid

The president’s physician Sean Conley said Mr Trump was given an experimental antibody combination which is currently in clinical trials before attending hospital.

He added the president “remains fatigued but in good spirits” and that a team of experts was evaluating both the president and first lady in regard to next steps.

Late on Friday, Dr Conley issued an update that said Mr Trump is “doing very well” and is “not requiring any supplemental oxygen”.

The first lady, who is 50, has a “mild cough and headache,” Dr Conley reported, and the remainder of the first family, including the Trumps’ son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.