U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for COVID.
A White House doctor said late Monday EST that the president had tested negative for the disease. Trump said he was diagnosed with COVID Oct. 1.
White House physician Sean Conley said Trump tested negative "on consecutive days."
The statement was made before the president was to fly to Florida to host his first campaign activity since contracting the virus. Trump was tested using a newer, rapid test from Abbott Laboratories, according to his doctor, who didn't say when the test was conducted.
"Repeatedly negative antigen tests, taken in context with additional clinical and laboratory data, including viral load, sub genomic RNA, and PCR cycle threshold measurements...all indicate a lack of detectable viral replication," CNBC quoted Conley as saying.
Trump didn't wear a face covering as he boarded an aircraft to a campaign rally in Florida.
His physicians said last week it was safe for him to resume public activities. Monday was the first time the doctors supported their evaluation with clinical test results.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization to Abbott for a $5 rapid-response coronavirus antigen test.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Dr. Anthony Fauci questioned the wisdom of allowing Trump to engage in a campaign rally. Positivity rates from tests, he said, were increasing in parts of the southeast and southwest of the U.S. "We know that that's asking for trouble when you do that," Fauci, the top infectious-disease expert in the U.S., said in an interview with CNN before the president left the White House for Florida.
According to Politico, doubts remain about the disclosures and statements from Trump's doctors
