US President Donald Trump, Melania test COVID-19 positive, say ‘we’ll get through this together’

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New Delhi: US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus.

Trump informed on microblogging site Twitter on Thursday (local time). He wrote: "Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!"

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

The president rarely wears a mask and has ridiculed others, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, for doing so regularly. Health professionals say that face coverings are key to preventing the spread of the virus.

The development nearly a month ahead of the US Presidential elections could alter the course of the polls dramatically.

The White House has issued a new schedule for Trump`s activities on Friday that did not include his planned trip to Florida. Biden is scheduled to campaign in Michigan on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Trump had announced that he and the first lady had undergone COVID-19 tests after his top adviser Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus. 

Top adviser to President Trump, Hope Hicks had tested positive for the coronavirus was confirmed in a television interview on Thursday. 

"She tested positive, so whether we quarantine or whether we have it ... I don`t know," Trump had said.

Hicks travels regularly with the president on Air Force One and, along with other senior aides, accompanied him to Ohio for the presidential debate on Tuesday and to Minnesota for a campaign event on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world`s highest number of cases and deaths at 7,277,352 and 207,791, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University.