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Monday, O c tober 5, 2020 | Vo l u m e 1 2 5 | I s s u e 9
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
TRUMP TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 Conflicting accounts of president’s health spur confusion, raise questions about impending election
Courtesy Photo
By Liam DeBonis @LiamDeBonis President Donald Trump confirmed in a tweet on the evening of Oct. 1 that he tested positive for the coronavirus, along with first lady Melania Trump. According to reporting from the New York Times, Trump’s senior advisor Hope Hicks began exhibiting COVID symptoms “around the time of Mr. Trump’s rally” in Duluth, Minnesota on Wednesday, which she attended with the president. Hicks was quarantined while returning to Washington on Air Force One and received positive test results the following day. No details have been
provided about if the air in her area of the plane was recycled and filtered throughout the rest of the aircraft. White House physician and Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley confirmed the diagnosis on Friday in a memo to Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary. Since that announcement, many of Trump’s closest allies — including Kellyanne Conway, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and three GOP senators — have tested positive as well. The president downplayed the risk of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and has rarely been seen wearing a mask in public. Photographs from a Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett show
no social distancing measures and limited mask use. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who was not wearing a mask, was seen coming into physical contact with other members of the event, including fist-bumping other guests. A contact tracing analysis by the New York Times revealed that at least 10 people at the event, including Trump, have since tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday evening, Trump released a short video informing the public that he would be relocated to Walter Reed Medical Center. He was flown by helicopter to the hospital and remains in a specialized presidential suite where he continues to receive medical care.
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Nick Romero / Daily Lobo /@nicromerophoto
Trump appeared in a video, released on Twitter Saturday afternoon, claiming that he is doing well after testing positive for COVID-19.
In the days since he was diagnosed, the White House has obfuscated details about his condition, including when Trump first tested positive, whether or not he was given oxygen at some point and the actual state of his medical condition. Reports on the president’s condition have been conflicting. While medical staff, including Conley, stated in a press briefing on Saturday that they are “extremely happy with the progress that the president has made,” others are more concerned. On Saturday, just hours after a press briefing where doctors said the president’s vital signs were “normal,” the Washington Post reported that chief of staff Mark Meadows described Trump’s
vitals over the previous 24 hours as “very concerning.” A source close to Trump said the president has had trouble breathing and has been fatigued, according to CNN’s Jim Acosta on Friday. The rapidly developing story and conflicting reports have made it difficult to glean an accurate portrait of the president’s health at this time. The New York Times also gathered opinions from independent experts, who were not optimistic but praised the decision to transfer the president to Walter Reed Medical Center. “This is a nightmare,” Dr. Jeremy Faust told the New York Times. “When we first learned about this disease, it
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Balloon Fiesta page 6
Balloons take flight on the morning of Oct. 4 from Ventana Ranch Park in Albuquerque, NM.