Trump says he was tested for coronavirus, awaiting results

NEW YORK, Mar 14 (APP):US President Donald Trump said Saturday he has been tested for the coronavirus and is awaiting the results, although his temperature is “fine.”

“I also took the test last night,” he said. “I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday.”

Trump’s decision to take the test comes after he said he was not concerned about coming into close contact with a Brazilian official who tested positive this week for the coronavirus.

The press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Brazil’s charge d’affaires in Washington both tested positive for coronavirus this week, days after they met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

The White House medical doctor released a memo Friday at midnight saying that Trump remains without symptoms for coronavirus and quarantine is not necessary.

During Friday’s news conference held at the White House Rose Garden, Trump had said he would likely get tested for coronavirus. After weeks of saying he didn’t need to be tested, the president said at a press conference on Friday that he probably would get the test. But the White House issued a memo from Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s personal physician, near midnight Friday saying Trump was “low-risk” and didn’t need the test.

Vice President Mike Pence said he planned to speak again with the White House physician’s office immediately after the briefing about getting tested.

He said as of last night, he’d been told that “neither I nor Mrs. Pence either had the symptoms or the context that would necessitate testing.”