A Brazilian official who met with President Donald Trump at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago tested positive for the new coronavirus, which causes a disease called COVID-19.
In a statement, the Brazilian government confirmed Wajngarten’s positive COVID-19 test.
The White House was told about the test “so that they can adopt the necessary cautionary measures,” Brazil’s government said.
Trump’s press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the White House was made aware of reports that the official tested positive after visiting Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
“Exposures from the case are being assessed, which will dictate next steps. Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time,” she said. “As stated before, the White House Medical Unit and the United States Secret Service has been working closely with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy.”
Amid the coronavirus epidemic, Trump told reporters that he is “not concerned at all” about contracting the illness. He was asked about his speech at an influential conservative conference in late February, where an attendee was later confirmed to have tested positive, prompting several Republican members of Congress to self-isolate for 14 days.
On Wednesday night, Trump announced sweeping travel bans to dozens of European countries coming into the United States, namely mainland Europe, as the White House attempts to curb the spread of the virus.
Pence on Thursday told NBC’s “Today” show that there will be “thousands” of more COVID-19 cases in the country while the administration is “trying to hold that number down as much as possible.”
The coronavirus emerged late in 2019 in mainland China and has spread to more than 100 countries. Outside of mainland China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan have reported the most cases.
