The news of President Donald Trump testing positive for COVID-19 got the public worried about Joe Biden who was standing a few feet from him during the debate.
CNN‘s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta says former VP Joe Biden should be immediately tested. The 77-year-old Presidential candidate is likely to be “potentially exposed.”
President Donald Trump confirmed via Twitter that he and FLOTUS Melania tested positive for the coronavirus. The need for immediate testing came after his counsel, Hope Hicks, acquired the virus—which POTUS also confirmed in a tweet.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Why Joe Biden should be tested?
According to Dr. Gupta, Biden was on the same stage as Trump on Tuesday evening for the Presidential debate. The former VP did stand far enough from Trump, but per Gupta, “if you are indoors, you could think of the virus like smoke.”
Gupta insists, “[h]e does need to be immediately tested. He has come in proximity to someone that has Covid.”
CNN reports the possibility that Biden “may have been exposed to the virus.” On media, Trump and Biden were definitely in a good social distancing range.
However, the outlet notes the likelihood of the two candidates interacting backstage or behind the scope of the cameras. After the event, the Presidential tickets, as seen, were joined by their wives, FLOTUS Melania and Jill Biden on stage.
Former US vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden needs to be tested for Covid-19 after having been on the same stage as President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, says CNN's @drsanjaygupta. https://t.co/ikUtX5JvTh
— CNN (@CNN) October 2, 2020
A national concern
President Trump’s current situation could be a “serious risk to US national security,” says CNN. Nonetheless, experts have already warned against panic. President Trump could likely recover from the virus.
Former Chief of Staff, Miles Taylor, told Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, as quoted by the news outlet:
“We have seen this to be a deadly virus. One of the President’s closest friends has died from this virus … And again, we have seen 200,000-plus Americans die from this virus. So if the President of the United States has it, we should be worried.”
In any case, Vice-President Mike Pence is said to take over, should the president would be “unable to fulfill his duties,” says Newsweek.
The chain of succession, per the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, would be VP Pence first; Followed by, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
As of this writing, the official statement from the White House and FLOTUS’ tweet affirm that the presidential couple is feeling well. Although an ER physician told CNN that it might take ” at least a week before President Donald Trump develops symptoms.”
Leaders from foreign countries have already bid their well-wishes to the President and to the First Lady, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Featured image courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Flickr