Trump no longer at risk of spreading coronavirus, White House doctor claims

Memo did not reveal whether president tested negative

Donald Trump's doctor at the White House said the president was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus 10 days after he first showed symptoms.

A memo released on Saturday night from White House physician Sean Conley said tests of samples taken from the president show “by currently recognised standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk” but did not explicitly say whether he had tested negative for the virus.

In the US, current guidance from the Centres for Disease Prevention (CDC) states most people with Covid-19 should isolate for at least 10 days after symptoms show and can end isolation after that point if they have gone more than 24 hours without a fever.

The doctor said the president meets the CDC criteria, adding “the assortment of advanced diagnostic tests obtained reveal there is no longer evidence of actively replicating virus.”

“Moving forward, I will continue to monitor him clinically as he returns to an active schedule,” the memo concluded.

Mr Trump first tested positive last Friday and spent three days in a military hospital before returning to the White House.

In his first on-camera interview on leaving hospital, the president said he did not know how the infection spread at the White House, where more than a dozen people have tested positive for the virus though health officials claim a function held in the Rose Garden  on 26 September to announce the Mr Trump’s Supreme Court nominee was likely a “super-spreader" event.

The latest information on the president’s condition does not reveal whether he has any lingering damage from the virus.