General view of the White House early in the morning after U.S. President Donald Trump was taken to hospital in the wake of his coronavirus disease (COVID-19) diagnosis, in Washington, D.C., U.S. October 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Washington: The White House refused to disclose the number of positive cases of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) it had, after White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah said earlier that the number of West Wing employees who have tested positive will be revealed.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that due to privacy concerns the White House would not release the number of employees who have COVID-19.
McEnany would also not comment on whether President Donald Trump had received a coronavirus test before last week's presidential debate with Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
"I'm not going to give you a detailed readout with time stamps every time he is tested," She said, adding that he is tested regularly and the first positive test he received was after his return from Bedminster, New Jersey, where the presidential debate took place.
McEnany then abruptly ended the briefing and would not answer questions on Trump's motorcade trip outside Walter Reed medical center in Maryland, where he is being treated for COVID-19, as he paid a surprise drive-by to greet his supporters gathered outside the hospital.
US President was seen leaving the hospital briefly on Sunday to ride in an armoured car past a group of supporters on the street outside.
Medical experts have raised an alarm at the danger Trump may have posed to the secret service agents and to others he may have come into contact with in leaving and returning to the hospital.
Trump announced last Friday that he and his wife Melania Trump had been infected with Covid-19, and that they would begin quarantine. He also said that his aide Hope Hicks tested positive for the virus.
American media reported, two days ago, that President Trump's campaign manager Bill Stephen had tested positive for the virus, becoming the last official close to Trump to be infected with the virus.
Stephen's infection with Covid-19 reflects the rapid spread of the highly contagious virus and the extent of its spread among the US President's top aides.
