President Donald Trump revealed that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, October 8th. It all started with a close adviser to the President, Hope Hicks, testing positive just the day before the announcement. At first, Mrs. Trump tweeted that they were “feeling good” (twitter.com), and the White House did not say if they were experiencing symptoms. 

A few hours passed and the President released this tweet, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” (twitter.com). Initially, this can be viewed as a positive way to look at a bad situation. However, this tweet was the beginning of a long spiral of situations that required more attention than the White House was willing to give. 

To start, the place that Donald Trump claims to have gotten the virus was at what the top US virus expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, calls it a  “superspreader event” (cnn.com). This event was the unveiling of President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, where at least 11 people who attended the event later tested positive for COVID-19 (cnn.com). Dr. Fauci added, “We have a super spreader event in the White House, and it was in a situation where people were crowded together and were not wearing masks.” (bbc.com). He, as well as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also recommended for the event to not be done in the first place. 

After this event, many people began to question our administration. Why is the White House not following the CDC guidelines? Kayleigh McEnany, Donald Trump’s press secretary, was one of the latest cases rooted out of the White House’s “superspreader” event. She said that she was in close contact with Hope Hicks, who had already tested positive, and did not quarantine until after she tested positive (vox.com). If she would have gone into quarantine when CDC guidelines say, “after in direct contact with any individual who was positive with COVID-19 for up to one week before contact”, she may have possibly avoided spreading the virus at the event (cdc.gov). McEnany is not the only one in the government setting a poor example of following guidelines, with Republican policymakers such as Senator Chuck Grassley, Attorney General Bill Barr, and even Vice President Mike Pence saying that they will not quarantine despite their close contact with those who tested positive for the coronavirus (ABC news). This defies CDC guidelines once again. 

Even President Trump, who was hospitalized with COVID-19, put on oxygen, and then released, is not taking the CDC guidelines seriously. To start, he was released earlier than Dr. Fauci as well as the doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center recommended. After being released, he instructed his car to be driven by his supporters that were waiting outside the hospital, likely exposing the staff that was in the car with him. To add, a video released by the Trump administration shows Trump removing his mask for a photo-op after being hospitalized for 72 hours and still having the illness actively. He encourages the American people, “Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life” (cnn.com).

President Trump also later released a video after re-doing his White House entrance for effect. In this video, he claims that he faced coronavirus because he “had to” as a “leader”. This message, from a current coronavirus patient that experienced serious symptoms of the disease and whose treatments were unavailable to most Americans because they are experimental, ignores the over 200,000 Americans that are already dead (abc.com).

As more of his aids test positive for the disease, many question what steps have been taken by the White House to stop the spread. Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, has only offered a few details on how staff members would be kept safe upon the President’s return to the White House. This includes the President staying in the medical suite and everyone is now required to wear a mask (foxnews.com). 

Trump’s doctors also continued to blur critical details about the President’s health, such as when Trump last tested negative for COVID-19 and what was revealed in his lung scan. He claims that privacy rules prevent him from disclosing these details. Amber Han (11), says “I wish I knew a little bit more about his health. It would make me feel a little better about what is going on in the world.” The information given to us about the President’s health, in his broadcasted announcement, is that he was given a new round of an antiviral drug, remained on the steroid dexamethasone, and that he will continue with these medications (foxnews.com). 

With a large and close circle of people in the government and staff assisting them testing positive, the severity of this global pandemic materializes. Though there are many people who downplay the severity of COVID-19, it is clear to see that the CDC encourages a healthier nation. With that, America needs unity to pull through this crisis that it is currently facing. Americans everywhere need to be cautiously positive while doing what is recommended by the CDC to get past the COVID-19 pandemic and become the great nation it can truly be.