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On Friday, in a post-midnight tweet, U. S. President Donald Trump announced that he and his wife, Melania Trump, had tested positive for coronavirus. The news comes just 32 days before the presidential election and at the end of one of the busy weeks. Since last Saturday, he has completed two rallies, a fundraiser and the first of three presidential debates scheduled with Democratic nominee and former President Joe Biden in Cleveland. The president and the first are now quarantined in the White House.
Trump is now one of many world leaders and other senior officials who have become inflamed with COVID-19 since the World Health Organization declared the virus pandemic more than six months ago. From Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, cases have in terms of aptitude and political effects, yet the infection has intensified questions about the leader’s handling of the pandemic. For trump’s campaign, it all depends on the days to come and the severity of his symptoms.
Below is a list of the most sensitive leaders who tested positive for COVID-19 and what happened next.
Trump’s announcement came hours after Bloomberg News reported that Hope Hicks, a senior adviser who had traveled with the president this week, had tested positive. The transmission line remains unclear and the administration appears to have overlooked official communications about the possible exposure. House did not alert Biden’s crusade before Friday’s announcement, the two applicants gave the impression of combining them without a mask in Tuesday’s debate. Trump held a fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday, despite knowing the effects of Hicks’ checks that morning.
With Trump quarantined, his infection has already rocked the presidential race, but the final political final results may be whatever happens in the coming days. As a 74-year-old obese man, the president is at the highest threat of a serious illness. Maximum, other people with COVID-19 recover temporarily with minimal symptoms, which tend to appear a few days after infection. The White House showed that the president and the first child had mild symptoms of COVID-19.
However, Trump’s infection marks the grave maximum risk to the fitness of a president-in-office since President Ronald Reagan’s assassination attempt in 1981 and, indeed, the grave highest so close to an election. If Trump is hospitalized or incapacitated, he can summon on the 25th. Amendment to the U. S. Constitution: Temporarily transfer force to Vice President Mike Pence.
So far, the news has suspended the occasions of the White House, trump’s crusade and all long-term debates. In addition to the Trump and Hicks, at least two others attended the White House rite by nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court: Senator Mike Lee and University of Notre Dame President John Jenkins tested positive (Barrett, who had had COVID-19 earlier this year, tested negative on Friday). The revelations also have greater fears among state officials that Trump’s great demonstrations around the world. the country in the final stretch of the crusade, adding in Pennsylvania and Minnesota this week, can be widespread occasions, expanding the number of COVID-19 cases across the country.
Pence, his wife Karen Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr tested negative at COVID-19 on Friday morning, Biden and his co-partner, California Sen. Kamala Harris, tested negative, according to their crusader advisers. .
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 56, would be the first primary global leader to test positive for COVID-19. On March 27, Johnson announced in a Twitter video that he had the virus, just over a week after his government abandoned his technique. to collective immunity from the pandemic.
Although it does not pose the greatest threat of coronavirus headaches, Johnson nearly died of COVID-19. After experiencing mild symptoms first, he was hospitalized for a week and spent 3 days in intensive care. Johnson later said he “could have done it. “gone either way. “
Johnson’s COVID-19 infection gained him sympathy as the number of British deaths rose in early April. Even those who opposed his policies wanted him to recover quickly, and his touch with death gave him a special touch in the polls: His popularity score this year peaked the week he was discharged from the hospital.
Prince Charles, 71, heir to the British throne, also COVID-19 in March. After testing positive, he walked away with his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who tested negative in Scotland.
In June, Charles said he was lucky enough to have experienced only mild symptoms. He told Sky News that he “got away with it a little bit” and used COVID-19 as a springboard to deal with broader environmental problems. “The more we erode the world herbs, the more we destroy biodiversity, the more we spread ourselves to this kind of danger,” he said.
On 19 March, Prince Albert II of Monaco, 62, the first reigning monarch or head of state to announce that he had tested positive for COVID-19. In the statement, the palace said that Prince Albert’s symptoms were not troubling and that he wanted to paint from home and suggested to the rest of Monaco to adhere to restrictions on coronaviruses. Within two weeks, the palace showed that Prince Albert had recovered.
Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti announced in a Facebook post on 2 August that he had contracted the coronavirus and would isolate himself for two weeks. Hoti, 44, said he “had no symptoms, a very mild cough. “
The unfortunate surprise came just two months after Hoti began his tenure as head of the country. Indeed, hoti’s Kosovo Democratic League had first gained strength on 3 June after an intra-government rupture over Kosovo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic caused a crisis. vote of no confidence to his predecessor, Albin Kurti, who refused to claim a state of emergency amid the pandemic.
As the new prime minister fought the virus, the Kosovars expressed frustration at their government’s inaction; the country of 1. 8 million people has noticed more than 12,000 cases of COVID-19. Hoti, for his part, was well enough for Washington to meet with Trump in early September.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, 45, announced on June 1 that he and his circle of relatives had contracted coronavirus. In a Facebook Live video, Pashinyan said he was not experiencing symptoms yet and assumed he had become inflamed through from a server without gloves who had handed him a glass of water in a meeting. Armenia, now mired in likely war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, has suffered more than 50,000 cases and nearly 1,000 deaths.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said in July that he had experienced an asymptomatic case of coronavirus. “The most unexpected thing is that today you see a user who controlled to combat the state of the coronavirus,” Lukashenko said after his recovery, according to the state. Belta Lukashenko news agency, which refused to impose a strict blockade, had in the past ruled out the risk of COVID-1nine as a “psychosis” and advised that drinking vodka and normal sauna visits would keep citizens healthy. The coronavirus crisis contributed to public discontent that led to ongoing protests in Minsk, which accelerated after the presidential election on August 9.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, 54, moved away from the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 in late April. The prime minister, who took office in January, temporarily left his duties until he recovered. Several other ministers, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added, tested positive at about the same time.
Russia, which plans to soon accentuate the first effects of its vaccine test, has recorded more than one million cases of COVID-19, but lifted its strict blockade restrictions in June. He rarely leaves his home and holds high-level maximum meetings via video.
After spending months rejecting the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, 65, tested positive for COVID-19 in early July. The president, who compared the virus to a “little flu” and had led giant political protests opposed public fitness guidelines, announced that he was taking hydroxychloroquine, which fitness experts said was not an adequate remedy for COVID-19 after mild symptoms appeared.
“For those who oppose hydroxychloroquine but are not offering them alternatives, I tell them that I am very well with its use and, with the grace of God, I will live for a long time,” Bolsonaro said.
Announcing the effects of his tests on the press, Bolsonaro took off his mask to show that he was “perfectly fine,” which led a hound organization to sue the far-right president. At least 11 Brazilian governors, as well as senior government officials and first lady Michelle Bolsonaro, tested positive for the virus.
Brazil, which has shown nearly 35 million cases of COVID-19 and at least one million deaths, has been the epicenter of the disease in Latin America since at least June. Overall, criticized for his handling of the pandemic, Bolsonaro has fired two fitness since March, ministers, convinced that his technique is too extreme, more recently appointed an army general to office. “We have an in-experience military profession in controlling the public fitness system,” said Luiz Henrique Mandetta, one of the dismissed ministers. .
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, 51, and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 in June. Despite being hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, the president announced that he would continue to perform his duties remotely. “I feel enough strength and power to continue, to move forward and overcome this pandemic,” Hernandez said in a televised statement.
Bolivia’s interim president Jeanine Ez, 53, tested positive for coronavirus in July, at which point her country was convulsed by the postponement of the presidential election, according to many officials in her government, adding health minister Maria Eidy Roca, appointed in the end. May after the arrest of his predecessor for corruption, he also contracted the virus.
With the increasingly violent protests in the country thereafter, Añez chose to withdraw from the upcoming presidential election scheduled for October 18. The resolution came a day after a popular vote placed her in fourth place in the contest. “I do this because of the threat that the vote will be divided among other candidates,” said Añez, who seeks to win the support of the conservative bloc. “If we don’t unsote, democracy loses. “
On September 18, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, 64, became the last Latin American leader to test positive for COVID-19. The president, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses crutches for walking, had stated in the past that he was a high level. -risky patient. Despite mild symptoms, Giammattei said he would remain “busy running away from home. “The announcement came on the same day Guatemala reopened its borders and re-set up foreign flights after a six-month blockade.
On 8 June, the Burundian government announced that President Pierre Nkurunziza, 55, had died from an attack at the centre after a brief illness, but according to reports from local media and diplomats, he was the first head of state killed by COVID-19. Senior officials denied the data as rumors, and at the time, Burundi had limited evidence and only 83 reported cases. In the weeks leading up to his death, Nkurunziza minimized the pandemic and allowed him to cross-up the May 20 election to update it and continue with a limited social distance in the rallies.
The elected successor, Evariste Ndayishimiye, was two months ahead of schedule on June 18, inheriting a public aptitude crisis, a suffering economy, and a country that needed far-reaching reforms after Nkurunziza’s 15-year reign.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiating leader, tested positive for coronavirus on 19 March, when the virus performed its first scan in Europe. In a tweet, Barnier, 69, said he is “doing well and in a good mood,” providing a message of solidarity to all those affected by the virus and lockdown. Barnier returned to his workplace in Brussels on 14 April.
In September, the return of Barnier’s call began to stick to the “coronavirus” trend because he warned that the most recent twists in the Brexit saga (Westminster’s efforts to veto certain facets of the withdrawal agreement he signed in 2019) would possibly have been motivated by the British government’s efforts to undermine its national problems in the fight against coronavirus.
The celebrated Italian media mogul and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, plagued by sex and corruption scandals while leading four other governments, tested positive for coronavirus on September 2. Berlusconi, 83, was hospitalized two days later and remained cured until his release. 14.
Berlusconi called his infection “the most damaging control of [his] life” and said he had “dodged a bullet again” by succumbing to COVID-19. While in hospital, and later from his villa in Arcore, Berlusconi campaigned for his party. Forza Italia, in the regional elections that were held on September 20 and 21, its candidates did well.
Sophie Grépassire Trudeau, 45, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, tested positive for COVID-19 after a trip to the UK in March. “Being quarantined at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who could go through this scenario and those facing more serious fitness problems,” he said. Neither the prime minister nor his three children contracted the virus.
Former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 80, self-allied in June after taking a positive coronavirus and recovered in three weeks, according to his spokesman. Central Asia saw an increase in the number of cases during the summer after some countries loosened restrictions and Kazakhstan imposed a momentary blockade in July.
Audrey Wilson and Robbie Gramer contributed to this report.
Augusta Saraiva is a foreign policy fellow. Twitter: @gutavsaraiva
Allison Meakem is editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy. Twitter: @allisonmeakem
Chloe Hadavas is editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy. Twitter: @Hadavas