Published 11:21 IST, March 10th 2020
White House says Trump not tested for coronavirus due to lack of symptoms
The White House said that US President Donald Trump has not been tested for the novel coronavirus since he has not displayed any symptoms related to the disease
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The White House said that US President Donald Trump has not been tested for coronavirus since he neither displayed any symptoms nor he has been in close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients. It added that Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him.
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said that Trump has taken a “groundbreaking” action to put American patients at the centre of their healthcare by requiring all healthcare systems to provide Americans secure access and control of their own health records. Grisham added that giving doctors and patients easy access to medical history, allergies, and other vital information can improve care and even prevent deadly medical errors.
Criticises Obama administration
“This crucial step will also open new frontiers of medical innovation. Scientists will now have faster and more powerful ways to analyze health data of patients who choose to donate it for research – giving them an invaluable tool to find new cures and treatments,” said Grisham in a statement. Grisham also criticised the Obama Administration for spending $36 billion of stimulus to achieve widespread use of Electronic Health Records but failing to do so.
The coronavirus epidemic has become a major concern around the world as more than 110,000 cases have been confirmed globally. The worst affected countries are China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy with more than 4,000 deaths due to COVID-19. The WHO chief has urged all countries to activate their emergency response mechanisms for COVID-19 and scale them up as needed to mobilize action across government.
According to the latest report, 17 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to 3,136. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, other countries, including the United States, Iran, Italy, and South Korea, have also reported deaths related to COVID-19.
11:21 IST, March 10th 2020