Ivanka Trump Met With An Australian Official Who Tested Positive For Coronavirus
Ivanka Trump and Attorney General William Barr met with an Australian official last week who has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, making them the latest people close to President Donald Trump to contract the virus.
As The New York Times reports, Ivanka, acting as the president’s senior adviser, met with Peter Dutton, Australia’s minister for home affairs. Barr was also present at the meeting.
On Friday, the conservative politician announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for the virus, though he said that he wasn’t feeling ill.
There has been no word on whether Barr or the self-styled first daughter have been tested for the disease. However, experts have recommended that anyone who comes in contact with someone that is ill should self-quarantine in order to prevent spreading the disease to the public.
Barr and Ivanka are just the latest individuals close to Trump to have been around someone with the disease. Trump himself met with a Brazilian official who later tested positive for the virus.
Reports have surfaced that while the president presents a calm face to the public, behind closed doors he is worried that he will contract the disease.
The president, who is a self-described germaphobe, has said that he has no plans to get tested, as The Inquisitr previously reported, and maintained that he isn’t concerned about getting sick. But in private, sources say that he recognizes his contact with infected individuals puts him at a higher risk of getting sick himself.
Yesterday ?? Home Affairs @PeterDutton_MP joins @IvankaTrump, Attorney General Barr & our five eyes partners ???????? to fight online child exploitation. We heard from 9 brave survivors & announced principles that technology companies should implement to protect children online pic.twitter.com/3ifeJnGJPI
— Australian Embassy, USA ???? (@AusintheUS) March 6, 2020
The Australian government is taking aggressive steps to stop the spread of the disease. Next week, all events with more than 500 people will be banned and the country is rolling out an economic stimulus package.
However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has argued that the disease isn’t a real risk in the country yet because isolation and testing has allowed them to slow the disease’s spread.
“And that’s why Australia right now is in a position where we have low rates of this virus and the number of cases that have presented. But we’ve always known that the number of cases will rise,” he said.
In the U.S., the economy has taken a hit after the stock market had its worst day in more than 30 years, though it recovered slightly on Friday after oil prices and European stocks climbed. The volatile market has been driven by a slow response to contain the disease in the U.S., prompting uncertainty.
