Published 14:09 IST, May 21st 2020
Fact Check: Was US President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19?
Fact Check: There have been claims on social media that the US President Donald Trump was tested positive for COVID-19. Here is the truth behind this news.
The United States of America has been going through a very difficult time as the country is suffering from the rapid increase of coronavirus. In such trying times, there is also a surge of fake news being circulated throughout the world as well. One of the most recent WhatsApp forwards claims that the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, has tested positive for COVID-19.
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Origin:
The message was forwarded on WhatsApp and then slowly paved its way to Facebook and Twitter as well. A video shared by these messages shows a report from an international news channel. In the video, the anchor can be seen claiming that the White House medical team confirmed that President Trump has been tested positive for Coronavirus. The words ‘Trump tests positive for COVID-19' can be seen written on the screen.
After doing a Google reverse image search using some snippets from the video, one comes across a YouTube video uploaded by the channel’s official account. The video informs that Donald Trump’s valet was tested positive for COVID-19. Looking at the visuals of this news report, one can see similarities between the shared video and the official video on YouTube.
The video shared is doctored, and it is Donald Trump's Valet who was tested positive
The video which was shared with these claims seems to be doctored. It is also important to observe how on the 0:10 second of the video, the headline shifts to ‘Trump Valet Tests Positive for COVID-19’. This is yet another proof that the video was doctored to show the news of 'Donald Trump positive for COVID-19'.
Donald Trump COVID-19 update
A health memorandum was released by the White House physician on May 19, 2020. The memorandum clearly states that President Trump is doing well and is in very good health. The memorandum also informs that Donald Trump is taking regular COVID-19 tests and that they are all negative to this date.
Donald Trump takes hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)
In related and highly significant news, Donald Trump shared that he has been taking a regular dosage of Hydroxychloroquine as a ‘frontline defence’. This measure was taken after Donald Trump’s valet along with Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary were tested positive for COVID-19. The memorandum as shared by President Physician Sean P. Conley also talks about COVID-19. It states that there were numerous discussions about the evidence for and against the use of Hydroxychloroquine. They have concluded that the potential benefit from treatment of the medicine outweighed its relative risks.
Hydroxychloroquine, a prophylactic that is normally used for Malaria, was among the first drugs prescribed for Coronavirus, as a preventive measure for high-risk persons. Amid the chaos of the pandemic's early days, the world rushed to fill its stocks, with India becoming a big exporter of the drug and being praised widely for this. However, by this time, it had already become evident that HCQ (Hydroxychloroquine) also posed a significant risk, and warnings were issued against its unadvised usage. Trump's admission sparked a massive storm, over concerns over his health as well as the example it sets for others.
Trump has been getting regularly tested for Coronavirus, ever since contacts began testing positive.
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Memorandum as shared by Sean P. Conley
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Google Trends Analysis
People have been going on to Google to look for whether the news of Donald Trump testing positive for COVID-19 is true. Google Trends analysis shows that May 19 saw a surge of searches at 9.30 PM. Here are the trends:
Updated 14:39 IST, May 21st 2020