Melania Trump said Monday morning she will stay at the White House as she continues to recover after contracting coronavirus in contrast to President Donald Trump emerging from Walter Reed Sunday to do a drive-by greeting of loyalists outside the medical center.
‘My family is grateful for all of the prayers & support!’ the first lady tweeted. ‘I am feeling good & will continue to rest at home.’
‘Thank you to medical staff & caretakers everywhere, & my continued prayers for those who are ill or have a family member impacted by the virus,’ she continued.
White House officials say Melania, 50, has no plans to leave the Executive Residence as she continues to recuperate.
They say she is so concerned with exposing others to the virus, that Mrs. Trump refused to leave isolation to visit her husband at Walter Reed on Saturday.
‘She has COVID,’ a White House official told NBC News. ‘That would expose the agents who would drive her there and the medical staff who would walk her up to him.’
First lady Melania Trump said Monday she is ‘feeling good and will continue to rest at home’ and she recovers from coronavirus
Reports revealed Melania does not plan to leave the White House residence through the duration of her recovery – not even to visit her husband at Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday – as to not put others at risk for contracting the disease
This is in contrast to Donald Trump’s practices as he left the hospital’s presidential suite on Sunday for a drive-by greeting of supporters posted outside the military medical center
Donald Trump, 74, made a last-minute, surprise visit to his supporters outside Walter Reed Medical Center, briefly leaving his hospital room to thank the cheering loyalists.
The president wore a face mask during his ride in the air-tight SUV – likely exposing those in the car to coronavirus.
Trump announced overnight Thursday that he and Melania had contracted coronavirus after getting tested following White House Counselor Hope Hicks’ positive test results.
The likely ‘super spreader’ event was Trump’s Rose Garden announcement of his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett last Saturday.
Hicks, Melania and several others within Trump’s inner circle who were present at the event have now tested positive for the virus.
Hicks also accompanied the president on his trip to Minnesota for a rally last Wednesday.
Head of Oval Office Operations Nicholas Luna, who acts as a ‘body man’ for the president, was on the trip Wednesday and also tested positive for coronavirus over the weekend.
Melania has severely cut down on travel and public events the last six months to lessen the chances of those involved in her movement contracting coronavirus.
A White House official told CNN Monday that the first lady did not wish to chance any of those individuals’ health, nor her own.
‘Melania is aware of the dangers of COVID-19. Potentially exposing others is not a risk she would take,’ the official said.
It appears the White House outbreak originated at the Rose Garden event last Saturday where Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett (right) as his Supreme Court Justice nominee to the vacant seat
Several attendees within Trump’s inner circle, including the president himself and Melania, have now tested positive for coronavirus
The president seemed less concerned with putting others at risk as a few Secret Service members were forced into close proximity Sunday as Trump paraded in an SUV around the medical center to greet supporters from the vehicle.
Trump posted a video to his nearly 87 million Twitter followers shortly before his visit outside, indicating he was about to make the trip.
He also said in the video that he visited with wounded and sick active duty and retired military members at Walter Reed and has learned a lot about COVID, which has infected more than 7 million Americans.
He started his short remarks by thanking the medical personnel taking care of him and added he has ‘gotten to meet some of the soldiers.’
The COVID-19 infected president did not say what precautions were taken for his meetings.
‘I also think we’re going to pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots,’ he said, hinting to his outside visit. ‘They’ve got Trump flags and they love our country so I’m not telling anybody but you but I’m about to make a little surprise visit so perhaps I’ll get there before you get to see me.’
He said he’s learned a lot about the coronavirus since his hospitalization on Friday.
‘It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID. I learned by really going to school. This is the real school,’ he said. ‘In the meantime, we love the USA and we love what’s happening. Thank you.’
During the drive-by, a person in the front passenger seat was wearing full personal protective gear, including a face shield. Secret Service agents were also in the car. The president went into the hospital Friday evening after testing positive for the coronavirus.
One doctor, who is an attending physician at Walter Reed, criticized the president for the visit, saying the risk of COVID transmission inside the SUV is ‘as high as it gets outside of medical procedures.’
‘That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack,’ Dr. James Phillipsy, the George Washington University doctor who is also an attending at Walter Reed, wrote on Twitter.
Although supporters were not exposed to the president as he rode in the air-right SUV – Secret Service members inside the vehicle could have potentially contracted COVID-19 as they were in close proximity to the president
‘The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play,’ he added.
The White House said the president made a short trip and then returned to the presidential suite inside the hospital.
‘President Trump took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave to his supporters outside and has now returned to the Presidential Suite inside Walter Reed,’ White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
‘Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the President and all those supporting it, including PPE. The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do.’
Deere did not answer questions about any in-person meetings Trump may have had at the hospital. In an earlier video message, the president said ‘I’ve also gotten to meet some of the soldiers and first responders’ at Walter Reed.