President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday Oct. 2, with the President later being transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland in “an abundance of caution” at the request of his physician and medical experts. Earlier in the day, he received an experimental treatment for COVID-19, a Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail. 

With only 4 weeks remaining until the 2020 presidential election, this diagnosis has abruptly overthrown the course of the presidential race. Trump cancelled all campaign events for the weekend, including a fundraiser at his Washington D.C. hotel and a political rally in Florida. 

According to the New York Times, a rapid succession of events led to the President’s diagnosis after Hope Hicks, a senior advisor and someone who traveled with him several times that week, tested positive on Thursday after exhibiting symptoms of the virus. 

At first, the President tweeted that he would start the quarantine process late Thursday after awaiting test results. There was speculation that he, and many others on his staff, would be vulnerable to exposure after being in close contact with Hicks on Air Force 1. Early Friday morning, Trump announced on Twitter that he and the first lady had tested positive and that they “…will begin [their] quarantine and recovery process immediately.”

On the same day that Hicks tested positive, Trump spoke at the 75th annual Al Smith Dinner saying, “I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight, and next year will be one of the greatest years in the history of our country.” 

Much of this year, Trump has downplayed the severity of the virus, going as far as repeatedly calling it a “democratic hoax” and claiming that he “…felt no vulnerability whatsoever” when it came to contracting the virus. He claimed the virus would disappear “like magic” and, according to the New York Times “could be seen mocking the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to wear masks. “Trump openly refused to wear a mask or participate in social distancing in public settings. Many of his campaign rallies were held in packed arenas, both indoor and outdoor. 

While in Ohio last Tues. at the first presidential debate against his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump said, “I don’t wear masks like [Biden]… Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

It is unclear if additional presidential debates will occur with ongoing uncertainty about the state of Trumps’ health. There are 2 more debates slated to occur on Oct. 15 and 22. The Vice presidential debate remains set for Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City, with updated rules on the distance between candidates. 

Multiple people in Trump’s inner circle have contracted the virus, including former Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway, Secret Service agents, Trump’s National Security Adviser, Robert O’Brien (a Sonoma County native), and 8 members of his campaign staff who worked an indoor campaign rally held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Over 200,000 Americans have died in a little under 7 months, at a rate of around 1,000 deaths per day, since the nation-wide closure of businesses and mass quarantine on March 16. Since then, 7 million people have tested positive for the virus in the United States, with over 34 million people testing positive across the globe. 1 million people have died of complications from the virus worldwide. 

Trump is in multiple high risk categories for COVID-19 complications, including his older age and underlying medical condition of obesity. Trump is 74 years old and at 244 lbs., he has a Body Mass Index(BMI) of 30.5. Any BMI above 30 is considered obese. According to statistics from the CDC, 8 out of 10 COVID-19 related deaths reported in the United States have been among adults aged 65 years and older. The CDC also states on its website, “Having obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, increases your risk of severe illness from COVID-19.”

At this time, there is no certainty of how or when the President and first lady contracted the virus, although the President had a busy schedule during last week, and was in contact with many people.

Moderator of the first Presidential debate, Chris Wallace, conveyed that he did not see Trump, his family, or his staff wearing masks at the event in Cleveland. “People in the hall noticed that they weren’t wearing masks and everybody else in the hall was wearing a mask,” Wallace said. “When the debate ended, Mrs. Trump came over, walked past me, she was not wearing a mask. Mrs. Biden walked past me to her husband and she was wearing a mask. So there was a difference in the way the two families and their camps treated the health safety regulations inside the hall.”

He also added that when safety personnel offered the Trump family masks, “They were waved away.” Sources close to the President reported he had also wanted more people in attendance at the debate. 

In a new poll from ABC News and Ispos released on Sunday, 72% of respondents said, “Mr. Trump had not taken the risk of contracting the virus seriously enough,” and the same number of respondents also said he had not taken “the appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health.” 

The American public and the world will be watching for updates on Trump’s condition. If he does not recover, or becomes too sick to fulfill the duties of the office of the Presidency, an unprecedented situation could occur with Vice President Mike Pence stepping up temporarily. While this has happened before, it has never occurred a month before the November election.