Donald Trump has potentially been infecting others with COVID for weeks

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Update: Joe Biden has announced that he and Jill Biden have tested negative. šŸ™šŸ¼
Donald Trump announced last night that he and Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, and that they were both beginning quarantine for an unspecified period. But it might be too late for others who have come in close contact with the president.

The White House announced Friday morning that Donald Trump is already experiencing 'mild' symptoms. This is a worrying sign, not just for Donald Trump's health but that of everyone he has come in close contact with for the past two weeks, and potentially longer. On average, a patient becomes symptomatic 5 days after contracting the virus but can take up to 14 days and in rare cases, longer, according to WebMD.

That means that Trump has been going around to campaign rallies, fundraisers, and government functions irresponsibly maskless and potentially infecting everyone he's come in contact with for the past week to two, or possibly even longer. The White House does not release the president's daily test results, so we do not in fact know if Donald Trump and his campaign have known for days or even weeks that he'd thus far been an asymptomatic carrier and kept the public in the dark.

Indeed, the Trumps were essentially forced to undergo the most recent round of testing after the positive status of Hope Hicks, a close aide to the Trump campaign, was leaked in the media. Were it not for the leak to Bloomberg, the American people still may not have known about Hope Hicks's status, or the presidents. As some on social media have pointed out, there is no reasonable way to know whether Hicks gave it to Trump, Trump gave it to Hicks, or whether they both contracted it from another source.

True to form, the Trump campaign also did not give the Biden campaign the courtesy of a call to notify them of the developments, despite the fact that Trump and Biden were in the same, indoors-space for the first presidential debate on Friday (though significantly socially distanced), when the president was very likely a carrier. The Biden campaign learned of it through the news, like everyone else.

Joe Biden, a better man than Donald Trump, graciously offered Donald Trump his prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery, something Donald Trump never would. Four years ago today, this same Donald Trump mocked Hillary Clinton for simple dehydration.

So yes, COVID is a terrible disease, and we should wish suffering on no one, but let's not pretend we have to be heartbroken that it has hunted a prey who's lied to the country about the seriousness of the pandemic and the public health measures required to fight it, who likely put people in his own close circles at grave risk knowingly, and who'd never wish his political opponents good health.



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