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President Donald Trump’s test results for the coronavirus have come back negative, indicating he does not have the virus, according to the White House physician.
White House Dr. Sean Conley announced the negative test results in a memo released to the media on Saturday, Business Insider reported.
“Last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed,” Conley wrote. “This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative.”
The news of the test results came just hours after Trump revealed he had been tested, during a coronavirus press briefing. Concerns that he had caught the virus arose after he interacted with two members of a Brazilian Presidential delegation last week who later tested positive with the virus.
“The President’s exposure to the first individual was extremely limited (photograph, handshake), and though he spent more time in proximity to the second case, all interactions occurred before any symptom onset,” Conley wrote.
The White House has also implemented temperature checks for those who have been in close contact with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, as a precautionary measure. CNN reportedly had one of its White House press members turned away after showing a temperature of 99.9 degrees.
To date, the U.S. has confirmed 2,726 coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Of the existing U.S. cases, 54 people have died. So far, 12 U.S. individuals diagnosed with coronavirus have recovered.
Trump declared a national emergency on Friday, releasing some $50 billion in emergency funding. Along with that emergency declaration, he has also called to shut down travel to the U.S. from Europe, as a means of barring potential carriers of the disease from entering the country.
The U.S. capacity to carry out testing for the coronavirus has also been a critical factor in identifying and stopping the spread of the disease.
During his Friday address, Trump announced efforts to remove federal regulations standing in the way of developing coronavirus test kits and said the FDA had approved an application for a new test kit in a matter of hours. At the time, he said up to half a million coronavirus tests could be ready within a week and up to 5 million coronavirus tests could become ready within a month.
