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White House doctor says US President Trump tested negative for coronavirus

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 19: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with his cabinet in the East Room of the White House on May 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day President Trump met with members of the Senate GOP. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump has been determined negative for the coronavirus using a rapid test, his White House physician said Monday, 10 days after the president announced he had contracted the potentially-deadly illness.

“I can share with you that he tested negative, on consecutive days, using the Abbot BinaxNOW antigen card,” Sean Conley said in a memo released to the public.

The doctor said the negative determination had taken into account a number of measurements and not just the rapid test alone.

Antigen tests are less sensitive than the more traditional PCR diagnostic test to low levels of virus.

Conley, who does not specify the days on which the tests were performed, nevertheless added that the data allowed the medical team to conclude “that the president is not infectious to others.”

This brief statement was issued while the president was on board Air Force One en route to Florida for a campaign rally.

(AFP)