TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A spokesman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday said there is no concern the governor may have contracted the coronavirus after he met with President Donald Trump last week in Jacksonville.
Fred Piccolo, Communications Director for DeSantis, said Friday the governor is in good health.
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Piccolo said other than a brief moment in Jacksonville last week, DeSantis has not had physical contact or been in close quarters with Trump in at least four weeks. DeSantis and Trump did not shake hands in Jacksonville, Piccolo told News4Jax.
The White House said Friday that Trump was suffering “mild symptoms” of COVID-19, as the virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans spread to the highest reaches of the U.S. government just a month before the presidential election.
The revelation came in a Trump tweet about 1 a.m. after he had returned from an afternoon political fundraiser without telling the crowd he had been exposed to an aide with the disease that has infected millions in America and killed more than a million people worldwide.
First lady Melania Trump also tested positive, the president said, and several others in the White House have, too, prompting concern that the White House or even Trump himself might have spread the virus further. The Trumps' son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.
Trump has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of the virus, rarely wearing a protective mask and urging states and cities to “reopen” and reduce or eliminate shutdown rules.
Trump and DeSantis both spoke to a crowd of people, many not wearing masks, during the campaign rally at Jacksonville’s Cecil Airport on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said he’s also not concerned with being near Trump last week because he was not close enough.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with President Trump and the First Lady and we wish them a speedy and full recovery. Mayor Curry has not been in close contact with anyone who is symptomatic or has tested positive for COVID-19,” the spokeswoman said.
Minnesota health officials are urging people who attended events associated with President Donald Trump’s visit this week to consider being tested for the coronavirus.
Trump announced he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 just two days after he held a campaign rally in Duluth and a fundraiser in a Minneapolis suburb.