WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the new coronavirus, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to COVID-19.
Trump agreed to the test after coming into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive.
Prior to his testing on Friday, the Republican president said his personal physician told him he did not show symptoms and did not need to take the test. But the 73-year-old president decided to do it anyway after repeated questions from reporters about why he was hesitating to undergo screening when he had been exposed to at least three people who have tested positive.
"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president's physician Sean Conley said in a memo on Saturday.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has killed at least 51 people in the US and upended daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shut.
New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.
Across the Hudson River in Teaneck, New Jersey, Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called for a citywide self-quarantine after 18 cases were confirmed in the township.
"What we are saying is that we are ground zero," Hameeduddin said. "Expect or act as though you're going to infect somebody or somebody is going to infect you."
The pandemic has now infected more than 2,200 people in the US. Globally, it has killed more than 5,800 people in at least 137 countries. (Aljazeera)