“It tells us that no one is immune from contracting the disease, no matter what your station in life,” Westchester County Executive George Latimer told the Business Journal this morning in reacting to the news that both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for Covid-19.
Trump is said to be already showing symptoms, including fatigue he was feeling yesterday when he was on a trip to Bedminster, New Jersey, to attend a political fundraiser. Trump had been in close contact over several days this week with his aide, Greenwich native Hope Hicks, who apparently has a serious case of the virus.
Hicks was on Air Force One, with the president at several events, in the Oval Office and otherwise in close contact with numerous key administration officials.
So far, the White House has not been entirely forthcoming with the facts of this latest outbreak affecting 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and only acknowledged that there was a problem after news reports had been circulating for several hours yesterday. Both Trump and his wife are in quarantine at The White House.
“This pandemic is serious and if it can reach the President of the United States and the people around him then it can reach any of us,” Latimer said. “I think it’s a moment not to have vitriol. We have plenty of vitriol in our politics already. This is a moment for compassion.
“At a personal level,” he continued, “I hope that the president and the first lady both recover without any type of damage. I don”™t think this is a moment for those of us who hold different political views from the president to talk about anything else other than the human element. I extend that same feeling to every other person that gets the Covid disease no matter where they are in the spectrum of life.”
Latimer said that the Trumps contracting the illness should prove to even the most ardent skeptic that the virus is not a hoax and will not go away on its own in a few days.
“We’re going to have to stop this right-left polarization of how we face the pandemic and just accept that fact that we’re facing something societally,” Latimer said. “When we talk about wearing masks, it cannot be a political football. It is something to reduce the spread and we have to accept that. We can argue about other things politically but we can’t argue about what is proper public health in dealing with a pandemic.”
Latimer said that he hopes what is unfolding at the White House will result in a coming together in the country for dealing with the pandemic. He also said this should be a wake-up call for anyone who has been disregarding public health guidelines such as the need for social distancing.
“You’re not rebelling against an ideology that you don’t agree with. You’re howling at the moon and not using common sense,” Latimer said. “This disease has cost the lives of 1,456 Westchester residents. Our fatality rate is about 4% of everybody that has contracted the disease in Westchester County. This is a deadly disease and we have to treat it that way.”
He pointed out that we are now entering the flu season, and a mix of the flu and Covid can be even more deadly.
“Yesterday we delivered our weekly update on Covid. We were very candid about the fact that there were a couple of indicators in the county that are ticking up, but the general assessment is that we are not experiencing a spike,” Latimer said. “I got a flu shot, not because a flu shot protects you from Covid, but because it reduces your chances of getting the flu and it is possible for you to get the flu and Covid. Most likely that could be fatal. We communicated yesterday in the most visual of ways, with the commissioner of health administering a flu shot to me, that there are things we can do as individuals.”
While Trump has admitted to deliberately downplaying the seriousness of Covid even after knowing as far back as January how devastating it could be to the U.S., he did treat it seriously in remarks seen last night during the annual Al Smith Dinner benefitting the New York Archdiocese.
Because of Covid, the event was held virtually rather than in a Manhattan hotel”™s ballroom. It is possible that while delivering the remarks via video to the virtual event he knew that Hicks had the virus and he had been exposed.
“Our country, and the entire world, have been struck with a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic,” Trump said. “We saw New Yorkers respond with the same grit and tenacity, courage, and selflessness that have always defined this city that we love so much.
“Doctors and nurses worked around the clock,” he continued. “The heroes of the New York PD ”” NYPD ”” we love them and they endorsed me, so I like them even more. But they are great. New York”™s finest. And the FDNY, the bravest ”” they are the bravest, they”™re great; I know them all very well ”” and other first responders risked their lives to save others.
“And of course, the Catholic community and the men and women of the New York Archdiocese answered the call and, frankly, answered it like nobody else could. In Catholic schools, hospitals, shelters, soup kitchens, and food pantries, you served with the supreme devotion to your fellow citizens,” Trump said.
“We mourn for all of those who lost a loved one, and in their memory, we will defeat the virus. And I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight,” Trump said, even though as his remarks were being seen the pandemic was just beginning to hit home for him and his wife.
“My thoughts are with President Trump and the First Lady and I wish them a full and speedy recovery,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted. “This virus is vicious and spreads easily. Wear a mask. Let”™s all look out for each other.”
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the President and First Lady, who have tested positive for Covid,” tweeted Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. “Another reminder that this is a highly contagious virus and we must not let our guard down.”
