His coronavirus diagnosis means President Donald Trump will not campaign Saturday in Wisconsin, as the state experiences an unprecedented surge in new positive cases and hospitalizations.
The president downplayed COVID-19 last week before a large – and largely unmasked crowd – at an Ohio campaign rally.
“It affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems and other problems. If they have other problems that’s what it really affects, that’s it,” the president said in Swanton, Ohio on September 21. “It affects virtually no one. It’s an amazing thing.”
Rallies set for Janesville and Green Bay won’t happen, as the president and First Lady quarantine at the White House.
On Tuesday, Wisconsin’s chief medical officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard, explained that the virus needs to be taken seriously. “This virus is highly transmissible. It spreads from person to person very effectively,” he said. “And when it gets into a person who’s vulnerable to severe infection it can cause severe illness, hospitalization and death.”
As of Thursday Wisconsin had the nation’s third highest positive COVID-19 test rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Governor Tony Evers and state and public health authorities urge masks, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings and unnecessary travel.