Though Dr. Michael Ryan of the World Health Organization (WHO) declined during a recent special session to directly agree with the assessment that Donald J. Trump's reported COVID-19 diagnosis was "inevitable" given his general disregard for pandemic-appropriate behavior, one would be hard-pressed to approach anything nearing shock regarding the failed steak salesman's current situation.
Instead, Ryan made a point to remind those listening that the oft-repeated health precautions—i.e. wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing—remain the best ways of maneuvering through life in the coronavirus era. During the same special session, the organization announced that its "current best estimates" show that 10 percent of people around the world—i.e. as many as 760 million people—could have been infected with the virus.
That number is dramatically higher than the number of confirmed cases, which have been stated from the very beginning of all this as not being capable of painting the full picture. Put another way, this sh*t is dire and has been dire for quite some time now.
And given Trump's recent behavior, most notably the wildly tone-deaf publicity stunt he pulled over the weekend via motorcade, the failed steak salesman still isn't interested in treated the ongoing pandemic with any sizable amount of seriousness.
As expected, the days since Trump's announcement of a diagnosis have included a number of additional reports of positive tests among those close to him. Below is a running list of key names, including the previously announced Hope Hicks. Those listed as having announced negative tests for the virus, of course, could also later report positives because, um, that's how a pandemic works.
That's exactly what happened with Donald Trump's son, Barron. After initially testing negative, his mother Melania announced he tested positive soon after. "He has since tested negative," she added.
Positive:
- Melania Trump, First Lady
- Kellyanne Conway, former counselor to Trump
- Hope Hicks, political advisor to Trump
- Kayleigh McEnany, White House Press Secretary
- Nicholas Luna, Trump’s assistant
- Bill Stepien, campaign manager
- Mike Lee, Republican Senator
- Ron Johnson, Republican Senator
- Thom Tillis, Republican Senator
- Chris Christie, former NJ governor
- Ronna McDaniel, RNC chairperson
- Stephen Miller, Senior advisor to the president
- Barron Trump, son
Negative:
- Mike Pence, VP
- Ivanka Trump, senior advisor
- Jared Kushner, senior advisor
- Donald Trump Jr., person
- Eric Trump, person
- Lara Trump, former TV producer
- William Barr, Attorney General
- Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury
- Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State
- Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce
- Mark Esper, Secretary of Defense
- Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing & Urban Development
- Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation
- Alex Azar, Secretary of Health & Human Services
- Pat Cipollone, counsel
- Amy Coney Barret, Supreme Court nominee
- Robert Wilkie, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Larry Kudlow, economic advisor
- Chad Wolf, Secretary of Homeland Security
- Mark Milley, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
