Donald Trump Tests Negative for Coronavirus Following Contact With Positive Cases

President Donald Trump has tested negative for coronavirus according to NBC News. Trump’s White House physician released a statement updated the media on the developments and noted that the president took the test after close encounters with several potentially infected individuals.

The test comes on the heels of Trump’s meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his press secretary, the latter having tested positive for the virus. It also follows a list of GOP figures who were in contact with another positive case during CPAC in Washington, DC.

Trump noted he had taken the test earlier Saturday and was awaiting the results of the test. It follows days of speculation that Trump seemed ill in his addresses to the nation and his mixed-messages on tactics to combat the spread of the virus.

The reported negative test closes out a whirlwind week where Trump blocked travel from several European countries, planned blocking travel from the U.K. on Sunday night, and declared a national emergency. It also follows a period of heavy criticism for the president and his initial reactions to the virus and his administration’s insistence that all was well as numbers continued to rise related to the coronavirus.

“To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump announced Friday from The White House rose garden. “Two very big words. The action I am taking will open up access to $50 billion… for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.”

The declaration by Trump was preceded by a wild week that saw the stock market plummet, entertainment and sports grind to a halt, and panic at stores all around the nation. The president’s address on Wednesday night only exacerbated fears related to reports that his administration wasn’t prepared and the virus was spreading more than had been reported due to the lack of testing.

The president took the stage hours before his test results were revealed to answer questions about his possible contact with the virus, the numerous incidences where he was still shaking hands despite CDC guidelines warning against it, and his call for a national day of prayer on Sunday. Trump also tweeted out that he had a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about his wife, Sophie, and her positive test for the disease.

The United States is currently seeing 2,836 cases nationwide, with 57 death and 49 recoveries out of the cases that have closed.