White House turned to Fauci for ‘impartial review’ of Trump’s COVID-19 test record
The White House asked two of the nation’s top infectious disease experts to review “the totality” of President Donald Trump’s test results from his recent coronavirus diagnosis in order to determine whether he remains infectious to others, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The president plans to participate in a town hall event in Miami on Thursday hosted by NBC News.
The president’s aides turned to Drs. Anthony Fauci and H. Clifford Lane, both with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, for an “impartial review as a means of providing assurance to NBC,” the source told McClatchy.
One of the president’s recent tests was a highly accurate “polymerase chain reaction” test conducted by the NIH. PCR tests identify whether genetic material of COVID-19 is present in the body.
The two experts concluded that all current evidence indicates the president is not infectious to anyone else, the source said, affirming a previous statement from Trump’s physician.
In a press release issued Wednesday morning, NBC said that Drs. Fauci and Lane had determined “with a high degree of confidence” that the president was “not shedding infectious virus.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, will participate in a competing town hall event at the same time Thursday evening, with ABC News in Philadelphia.
