Coronavirus USA: can Donald Trump spread it to anyone if he has antibodies?
Mr. Trump is currently infected with the virus and being contagious can easily spread it to the people around him who work in the White House.
Upon returning from Walter Reed Hospital to the White House, President Trump labored up to the balcony overlooking the South Lawn and took off his mask, horrifying medical experts and those who are trying to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control. He wanted to show that he is above the virus, strong and healthy. He did neither.
Trump says he is immune
Once inside the White House, in a campaign-style video he tweeted out, Mr. Trump proclaimed "Now I'm better, maybe I'm immune." Perhaps he didn't understand the idea of immunity at that time as he was still being treated for the disease and is still in the CDC’s time frame for being contagious with Covid-19. But then again on a call to FOX Business with Maria Bartiromo on Thursday he reiterated that idea saying “When you catch it, you get better and then you're immune.”
This flies in the face of medical knowledge that has been gathered over the course of the global pandemic with the U.S. having the most severe outbreak, thanks in large part to misinformation. According to a Cornell University study published in the New York Times, Mr. Trump is “the biggest driver of misinformation.” Currently over 210,000 people have died of Covid-19 and infections on the increase.
People can be re-infected
According to medical research people can get re-infected as the virus mutates, although the scope is still limited. In a paper from The Harvard Medical School there is the account of a man from Hong Kong who had contracted the virus in March, was re-infected again four and a half months later. He tested positive upon returning from a trip to Europe when checked at the Hong Kong airport with the viral material genetically different from his prior infection.
The CDC says you should continue to take all precautions when you go out in public even if you have already successfully overcome a Covid-19 infection. This includes washing hands, socially distancing and wearing a mask. This virus is difficult because in each individual it responds in a different way.
- It has been more than 10 days since your symptoms began.
- You have been fever-free for more than 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.
- Other symptoms have improved.