3rd Mar-a-Lago Guest Tests Positive for Coronavirus

But Trump's doctor says president doesn't need quarantine, testing (at least not yet)
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 14, 2020 7:45 AM CDT
3rd Mar-a-Lago Guest Tests Positive for Coronavirus
LHC Group's Bruce Greenstein elbow-bumps with President Trump during a news conference about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden at the White House on Friday.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

First there were two; now there are three. The Brazilian Embassy says that a third person who was at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last weekend in Florida has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, per the Washington Post. Acting Brazil Ambassador Nestor Forster, who was said to have been "in close contact" with the president at Mar-a-Lago, got the results on Friday. "Following medical advice, Amb. Forster will extend his self-quarantine, which he had already placed himself into as a precautionary measure, for another two weeks," the Brazilian Embassy tweeted Friday night. Another official who has tested positive, Fabio Wajngarten—the press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was also at Mar-a-Lago—posed for a picture with Trump. The third person who tested positive attended a donor lunch at which Trump spoke.

Bolsonaro himself has denied reports that his own test results came back positive. These developments have made many wonder if Trump should be tested or quarantined, but on Friday evening, Trump doctor Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley released a memo saying he didn't think either were necessary at this point. "The President's exposure to the first individual was extremely limited (photograph, handshake), and though he spent more time in closer proximity to the second case, all interactions occurred before any symptom onset," Conley noted, adding that Trump himself has no symptoms and so doesn't need a test. Per CNN, Conley's decision on Trump differs from that of other GOPers—including Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Lindsey Graham (who was also at Mar-a-Lago last weekend), and Rep. Mark Meadows—to self-quarantine after finding out they'd interacted with someone with the virus. (More coronavirus stories.)

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