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Melania Trump says Barron had coronavirus as she reveals her 'roller coaster of symptoms'

Youngest presidential offspring is ‘doing fine,’ his father tells reporters

John T. Bennett
Washington Bureau Chief
Wednesday 14 October 2020 17:15 EDT
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Trump says Barron 'is fine' after Melania reveals he had Covid

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Barron Trump, the youngest son of Donald Trump, tested positive for coronavirus around the same time his father was diagnosed with the respiratory disease, First Lady Melania Trump announced. The president told reporters his son is “doing fine.”

Ms Trump also tested positive when her husband did a few weeks back. Unlike the president, who had a very public bout with the virus and quickly returned to the public spotlight, she has laid low. Now it is more clear why.

“Naturally my mind went immediately to our son. To our great relief he tested negative, but again, as so many parents have thought over the past several months, I couldn’t help but think ‘what about tomorrow or the next day?’” Ms Trump wrote in an essay released by the White House.

“My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive. Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms,” she wrote. “In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together. He has since tested negative.”

The White House had said publicly at least once that the young Trump had tested negative.

As for the first lady’s Covid case, she said, unlike her husband, she shied away from medication.

I was very fortunate as my diagnosis came with minimal symptoms, though they hit me all at once and it seemed to be a roller coaster of symptoms in the days after. I experienced body aches, a cough and headaches, and felt extremely tired most of the time," she wrote.

“I chose to go a more natural route in terms of medicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food. We had wonderful caretakers around us and we will be forever grateful for the medical care and professional discretion we received,” the First Lady added.

Mr Trump again boasted during a Tuesday night campaign rally about his own medical cocktail, saying he feels great and wants to make the experimental and aggressive cocktail of antibody drugs and a powerful steroid available to all Americans who get the virus.

But aides on the House Appropriations Committee say the White House would need to get the funding from Congress for such a costly national deployment.

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