Trump says will be tested for coronavirus daily after military aide tests positive

By Lalit K Jha(Eds: Updating with more inputs)

Washington, May 8 () US President Donald Trump has decided that he will be tested daily for the coronavirus after one of his valets tested positive for the deadly disease.

A military aide of Trump, whom the White House officials described as a personal valet, tested positive for coronavirus.

The valet, a member of the military, would have had very close contact with Trump, and assisted him with his food, clothes and other personal needs, CBS News reported.

Trump, however, denied having close contact with the sick valet.

"I've had very little personal contact with this gentleman," Trump told reporters on Thursday in the Oval Office. "I know who he is, good person, but I've had very little contact."

(Vice President) Mike (Pence) has had very little contact with him. But Mike was tested and I was tested. We were both tested," Trump said.

Responding to questions, Trump said he, the vice president and other staff of the White House would be tested for coronavirus every day.

"I just had a test. In fact, I had one yesterday and one today, and it is negative. Mike just had a test and it is negative," he said on a day when the US passed yet another grim milestone of having 75,000 deaths due to the coronavirus.

"But they do the tests and it just shows you that the fallacy -- it is what I have been saying -- testing is not a perfect art. No matter what you do, testing is not a perfect art. So we test once a week. Now we are going to go testing once a day. But even when you test once a day, somebody could -- something happens where they catch something," the president said.

Trump repeated that Americans were "warriors" in their efforts to overcome the pandemic that has ravaged the US economy.

"We're all warriors together," he said. "I am, you are, we all are."

According to Johns Hopkins University, the US reported over 76,000 deaths and has above 1,256,000 cases of coronavirus infections, making the country the worst hit by the pandemic. LKJ RC AKJ AKJ