This morning, news broke that President Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for COVID-19. O’Brien is the highest-ranking cabinet member to be diagnosed with the respiratory illness. There have not been any reports of how recently O’Brien last spoke with the president in person. Their last public appearance together back in May was during a visit to US Southern Command.
O’Brien recently returned from a trip to Europe. During that trip, he spoke with officials from several European nations, including Italy, Germany, France and the UK. A White House statement confirmed that O’Brien is feeling only “mild symptoms” and that he’s working remotely and self-isolating. Bizarrely, several members of O’Brien’s own staff reported that news outlet knew of their boss’s diagnosis before they did.
Throughout the pandemic, Donald Trump has taken pains to avoid COVID-19. According to sources close to the president, he is a notorious germaphobe. As such, it comes as no surprise that he sidesteps close contact whenever possible. So far, this has served him well: he has not tested positive for COVID-19. President Trump, 74, is in the age range that would make a brush with the disease potentially life-threatening.
The White House is regularly testing all employees for COVID-19. Their testing protocol, while strict, has kept the number of cases among the upper levels of the executive branch to a minimum. Some critics of the current administration, however, have claimed that the president has been hypocritical about the virus. They allege that the president has downplayed the severity of the pandemic while privately fretting over getting the disease.
Despite the US being four and a half months into the pandemic, no end to the public health crisis is in sight. Many people in the US have begun to blame the current administration for this state of affairs. Public polling shows Donald Trump trailing former vice president Joe Biden in approval ratings. Among the topics that have bruised Trump’s national reputation are his administration’s sluggish response to COVID-19.
The respiratory illness, which is caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus, has a range of symptoms and is very contagious. Symptoms from loss of sense of smell to shortness of breath to even some resembling AFib stroke symptoms could suggest the presence of the disease. The CDC is recommending that people stay inside when they can, and wear a mask or face covering when they go in public.
