President Trump on Sunday said in a phone call to a group of supporters that he’s “tested totally negative” for the novel coronavirus, despite White House physcian, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley, releasing no new statements on the president’s health.
“I’ve been tested totally negative,” Trump said in an audio message his campaign posted on YouTube. “I’m going to be out in Florida tomorrow, working very hard because this is an election we have to win.”
Despite Trump’s claim that he has tested negative for the virus, the White House has not released any information since Conley sent out a memo on Saturday saying the president was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus. Conley did not, however, say explicitly whether Trump had tested negative for it.
A person can be symptom free and not be a risk of transmitting the virus to others and yet can still have the coronavirus in their system.
The president’s comments to supporters came just hours after trump spoke on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” where he told host Maria Bartiromo that he was “immune” from the virus.
“I’m immune,” Trump said.” “The president is in very good shape to fight the battles.”
While survivors of most viruses develop antibodies that guard them against becoming infected by the disease again, researches are still unclear if this is the case with COVID-19. Viruses can also mutate and cause individuals to become infected with another strain of the virus, as was the case with the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
Researchers at Harvard recently discovered that COVID-19 patients may be protected against reinfection for up to four months.
While there’s evidence that reinfection is unlikely for at least three months even for those with a mild case of COVID-19, very few diseases leave people completely immune for life. Antibodies are only one piece of the body’s defenses, and they naturally wane over time.
“Certainly it’s presumptuous to say it’s a lifetime,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist and department chairman at the Yale School of Public Health.
As to whether Trump could still be contagious, Ko said the White House appeared to be following CDC guidelines for when it is appropriate to end isolation after mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.