Wisconsin Sen Ron Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the third Republican senator to test positive within the past 24 hours.
Johnson’s office confirmed his diagnosis on Saturday, saying that he came in contact with an infected individual in Washington, DC, sometime after September 29 and received his test results on Friday.
The 65-year-old ‘feels healthy’ and is not experiencing any symptoms, aides said, adding that he will remain isolated until he tests negative and that his office will go all-virtual for the foreseeable future.
Two other GOP senators – Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – also tested positive on Friday.
It’s believed Lee and Tillis may have contracted the virus after attending Amy Coney Barrett’s ceremonial nomination to the Supreme Court last weekend. Johnson did not attend that event.
The three diagnoses threaten to derail Barrett’s confirmation process as the senators would not be able to attend the Senate confirmation hearing which is scheduled to begin in-person on October 12.
As of Saturday, at least seven members of Donald Trump’s inner circle have tested positive for COVID-19, including the president himself.
Wisconsin Sen Ron Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus , becoming the third Republican senator to test positive within the past 24 hours
Trump, 74, announced his diagnosis early Friday morning, hours after his top aide Hope Hicks was revealed to have tested positive after traveling with the president to Cleveland on Marine One and Air Force One for the first presidential debate on Tuesday.
Hours later the president was transported to Walter Reed hospital as reports claimed that he was having ‘trouble breathing’. The White House has not confirmed those rumors, saying that he was being admitted for tests ‘out of an abundance of caution’ after he developed a fever, congestion and a cough.
Trump took to Twitter on Friday night, sharing an upbeat message from his hospital bed.
‘Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!’ he wrote after a CNN report quoted an unnamed presidential adviser claiming that there is ‘reason for concern’ about his condition and that the president was having ‘trouble breathing’ following his positive coronavirus test.
The president’s physician said that he is ‘doing well’ and is undergoing a range of treatments including a polyclonal antibody cocktail made by Regeneron that is not available to the public, remdesivir – an ebola drug that has already been shown to work against the virus – and vitamin D.
He is also taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine (the generic name for Pepcid AC), melatonin and daily aspirin.
Before traveling to hospital, Trump had released an 18-second video message to the nation, saying he was being hospitalized but ‘I think I’m doing very well.’
‘We’re going to make sure that things work out,’ he said, adding that the first lady was also ‘doing very well’.
Johnson’s diagnosis came as Trump was transported to Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, on Friday after he and first lady Melania tested positive. The president addressed the nation in a Twitter video (pictured) prior to being hospitalized
The president tweeted Friday night that he believed his treatment was ‘going well’
The president gave a ‘thumbs up’ as he walked from the White House to Marine One to be airlifted to hospital on Friday evening. He waved to reporters on the South Lawn but didn’t speak.
Trump’s ‘nuclear football’, the briefcase which could trigger doomsday, was loaded onto Marine One with him.
While Trump and his aides maintain that he is doing well, rumors have swirled that his condition is much more serious than they are letting on.
The president is at greater risk of developing a severe case of coronavirus because of his age.
‘This is serious,’ an anonymous Trump adviser told CNN, stating that the president was ‘very tired, very fatigued’ and that his condition was much more severe than Melania’s.
The source added that his condition is not deteriorating and the public should not be alarmed.
This is a developing story.
Trump 74, gave a ‘thumbs up’ as he walked from the White House to Marine One to be airlifted to hospital on Friday evening. He waved to reporters on the South Lawn but didn’t speak