US President Donald Trump Tests Negative for Novel Coronavirus

Trump had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night. The results came out in less than 24 hours.

US President Donald Trump talks about getting his temperature taken as he departs after speaking during a news conference about the coronavirus.

(Photo: AP)

United States President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, PTI reported quoting the White House physician.

73-year-old Trump had reportedly taken the coronavirus test on Friday night. The results came out in less than 24 hours.

“Last night, after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding the COVID-19 test, he elected to proceed. This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative," Dr Sean Conley, the presidential physician, said in a memorandum to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Saturday.

“One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free,” he said.

“I have been in the daily contact with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the White House Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation,” Conley added.

US Expands Travel Restrictions to UK, Ireland

Meanwhile, the United States has expanded its travel ban imposed on European countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic to the United Kingdom and Ireland, PTI reported.

The move came as Trump reviewed measures that his administration was taking to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has so far claimed 58 lives in the country.

The new travel restriction will come into force on Monday night, Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Saturday after a meeting of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus.

"They've had a little bit of activity unfortunately," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference in response to a question on the travel ban on the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"We made a unanimous recommendation to the President that we suspend all travel from the UK and Ireland. That will be effective midnight, Monday night, Eastern Standard Time," Pence said soon thereafter.

American citizens and legal permanent residents in the UK or Ireland can come home, Pence said. They will be "funneled through specific airports and processed," he added.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad F Wolf said the decision to expand the travel ban to the UK and Ireland was taken due to the rising number of cases there.

"These restrictions bar travel for certain foreign nationals who have been present in the UK or Ireland in the past 14 days," he said.

"These restrictions to the UK and Ireland, just like the Schengen zone and China and Iran, do not apply to air cargo, maritime cargo, economic shipping, or the like," Wolf said.

As per the latest report, 58 people have died in the US and there have been nearly 2,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. Globally, the deadly virus has claimed the lives of 5,811 people with 155,218 confirmed cases.

(With inputs from PTI.)