Trump moved to hospital after COVID-19 diagnosis
TRUMP ON TWITTER VIDEO: "I'm going to Walter Reed hospital. I think I'm doing very well but we're going to make sure things work out."
President Donald Trump was moved into a special suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, after testing positive for COVID-19.
A White House official said Trump would stay at the hospital for the next few days as a precautionary measure, and that doctors had urged the move so the 74-year-old president could get immediate care if needed.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump has a mild fever.
In a statement, Physician to the President Sean Conley said Trump was fatigued but in good spirits, and was being treated with an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron that was administered intravenously.
Conley also said the first lady "remains well with only a mild cough and headache."
The news came as the White House and Trump's campaign scrambled to adjust to the bombshell development with just 31 days to go until the Nov. 3 election.
Trump had downplayed the threat of the virus for months and had ignored social distancing guidelines by holding large in-person rallies with supporters who mainly decline to wear masks, and he has mocked his Democratic rival Joe Biden for wearing one.
TRUMP: "I don't wear masks like him. Every time you see him he's in a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from you and he shows up in the biggest mask I've ever seen."
At a campaign stop in Michigan on Friday, Biden, who said that he and his wife Jill tested negative for the virus, wished the president and first lady a speedy recovery.
BIDEN: "My wife Jill and I both pray that they'll make a quick and full recovery. This is not a matter of politics. It's a bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously."
Trump advisers acknowledged Friday that they would have to rip up their plans for the final weeks of the campaign and canceled several scheduled events.
Trump’s positive test also means that others at the highest levels of the government have been exposed and may have to quarantine, Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows warned more infections were likely.
MEADOWS: "...as this virus continues to go on, other people in the White House will certainly have a positive test result."
Vice President Mike Pence and his wife tested negative, according to a spokesman, who also said Pence - who would take over if Trump were to become incapacitated - will work from his own residence several miles away from the White House.
On Thursday, Trump had proclaimed that the U.S. was nearing the end of the pandemic, but hours later tweeted that he had joined the 7 million Americans who have tested positive for the coronavirus, which has killed more than 207,000 people in the United States - according to the CDC - more deaths than any other country.
