Crews on Wednesday recovered bodies of the three construction workers killed in a collapsed stairwell at the future Marathon Oil Corp. headquarters, fire officials said.
Families of the workers who died in the Monday collapse began gathering near the recovery site as demolition crews and construction contractors helped to stabilize the building, remove debris and establish an access point.
“It’s unfortunate it’s taken this long to get them out, but we want to ensure the safety of our members as we bring closure to the families,” said Assistant Fire Chief Michael Mire of the Houston Fire Department.
Engineers had to first determine the cause of the collapse before HFD on Tuesday assessed the structural integrity of the building to make sure it was safe to send rescuers inside. The cause has not been disclosed — HFD has deferred to the contractors and Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which was on site Monday.
A portion of the precast stairwell in the new office tower collapsed around 1:30 p.m. Monday and crushed the three workers and injured another. The structural integrity of the building is intact, officials said.
Houston police, Pearland police, 20 rescue technicians and HFD’s hazardous materials team were at the building Wednesday and were being assisted by SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council. Crews had to break and cut the steel and concrete stairs to access the victims, creating a technical challenge for the rescuers involved, Mire said.
“It’s been a very difficult operation, because each of those stairs weighs approximately 14,000 pounds,” he said.
Crews removed the bodies from the approximately three-story pile of debris before 2 p.m., Mire said. Fire officials planned to ensure that everyone was accounted for before they closed out the scene, although the victim count remained at three.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences transported the bodies in the afternoon. The victims have not been publicly identified.
In a release Wednesday evening, the Houston Fire Department said it had “cleared the scene and turned the property back over to the owners (Marathon Oil) and Harvey Builders.”
Chris Lechner, executive director of the Precast Concrete Manufacturers’ Association in New Braunfels, said failures with precast products are rare.
“They are plant manufactured under exhausting specifications and then transported to the jobs site,” Lechner said. “They’re built to be assembled.”
The Houston Dynamo close a two-game stretch at BBVA Stadium on Wednesday against FC Dallas in the third leg of the Texas Derby this season.
Houston opened the two-game stretch with a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday in the fourth and final meeting between both clubs during the regular season. Dynamo Academy product Marcelo Palomino made his professional debut and became the seventh Academy product to represent the Dynamo in league play.
Houston’s lone goal of the game came in the final 10 minutes of the match off a corner kick, a first for the club this season. Colombian forward Darwin Quintero tallied his eighth assist of the season when his corner kick found Sam Junqua inside the box for his first professional goal. Quintero leads the team in goals this season with five and assists with eight.
Houston look to earn their first victory in the regular season series with Dallas on Wednesday and snap a six-game winless streak that began on the road with the 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids on Sept. 9. The Dynamo and Dallas split points in the first meeting this season playing to a scoreless draw on Aug. 21. FC Dallas pulled away, courtesy of a second half Franco Jara goal, to earn three points with a 2-1 victory on Sept. 12.
FC Dallas enter Wednesday’s game with a 2-1-2 record in their last five matches. Dallas won two consecutive games following their 2-1 victory over Houston on Sept. 12. Jara has settled in after a challenging stretch to open the season and now leads the team with five goals. The Dynamo backline will also have to limit Santiago Mosquera who has scored four goals in 333 minutes this season.
WHO:
Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas
WHEN:
Wednesday, Oct. 7 – 7:00 p.m. CDT
TV:
QuestTexas Ch. 55 (Glenn Davis, Eddie Robinson and Cindy Burbano)
RADIO:
TUDN Radio Houston 1010 AM (Daniel Mejia and Lester Gretsch)
Here are three key points ahead of Wednesday’s game:
DYNAMO NAVIGATE SCHEDULE AND SUSPENSIONS: Houston will navigate disciplinary action on Wednesday as Maynor Figueroa and Matias Vera miss the Texas Derby to serve their suspension for yellow card accumulation. Boniek Garcia and Memo Rodriguez could miss Saturday’s match in Florida if they receive a caution on Wednesday evening. Two yellow cards in the next stretch of games would see Kiki Struna miss another match after serving a yellow card suspension on Sept. 26 in Houston’s 1-1 draw at Nashville. Additionally, Houston will face a quick turnaround as they travel to Florida for their first meeting with Inter Miami CF on Saturday.
FIRST GOAL KEY TO POINTS: The first goal of the game could play a large role in who walks away with three points on Wednesday as the Dynamo look to avoid conceding the first goal of the game for the seventh consecutive match. FC Dallas enters the match with a 5-3-6 record when scoring the opening goal of the match, which includes the 2-1 victory over Houston on Sept. 12. The North Texas side has 0-3-1 record when conceding the first goal. Houston holds a 2-0-2 record when scoring first in 2020 and a 0-3-4 record when scoring second.
TEXAS DERBY WELCOMES NEW RIVALRY: This is the final edition of the Texas Derby with only two MLS clubs in the Lone Star State. Austin FC begin play in MLS next season and their academy teams have begun activity in the new MLS Next format. Wednesday’s match is the third meeting of the regular season between Houston and Dallas. The final meeting between both clubs is scheduled for Oct. 31 as the Dynamo visit Frisco in their final road trip of the year. The North Texas side leads the all-time series between both clubs with a 12-11-14 record and the Dynamo hold a 8-4-7 record at home against their in-state rivals.
The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Harris County cannot send mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters, overturning two lower court decisions that found County Clerk Christopher Hollins’ plan to encourage mail voting the COVID-19 pandemic was permissible.
The court said Hollins had exceeded his authority by attempting to send applications to voters who had not requested them. Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the county in August, arguing that nothing in the Texas Election Code empowered county clerks to do so. His office said sending the applications would confuse voters to and lead some to vote by mail while ineligible, a felony.
“We conclude that the Election Code does not authorize the mailing proposed by the Harris County clerk,” the all-Republican court wrote in the unsigned opinion, later adding, “The authority vested in Texas counties — and county officials — is limited.”
The ruling comes six days after Gov. Greg Abbott declared counties could have just one mail ballot dropoff site, leaving Hollins with no choice but to close 11 locations he had spread out across the nearly 1,800-square-mile county. Both decisions force the rookie clerk of Texas’ largest county to scale back his ambitious, $27.2 million plan to make voting easier during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hollins accused the high court of suppressing voters.
“It is dissappointing that the court has sided with political forces seeking to limit voter access this November,” Hollins said in a statement. “Placing limitations on non-partisan outreach that educates citizens about their Constitutional right to vote should not be acceptable in a democracy.”
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said the ruling would disproportionately harm elderly and disabled voters. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilbert Hinojosa accused conservative leaders in Austin of inappropriately meddling in local affairs.
“The Republican Texas Supreme Court, along with the governor and other Republicans, continues to micromanage the lives of local Texans,” he said in a statement.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt praised the ruling and blasted Hollin for spending a record sum on this election, mostly through federal CARES Act money.
“We must recognize the obvious and understand in an election year it’s very important to eliminate any and all confusion for voters,” Bettencourt said in a statement “Just because you have ‘free’ federal money doesn’t mean you should spend it on mailing millions of registered voters an absentee ballot form that nearly all of them can’t qualify for in the first place.”
On several occasions since the coronavirus arrived in Texas in March, Republican statewide leaders have curbed the power of elected officials in the state’s largest counties, who are almost exclusively Democrats.
Texas is one of a handful of states that requires an excuse for voting by mail. Residents must be at least 65, disabled, out of the county or incarcerated during the voting period.
Hollins already had sent applications to all elderly voters who are automatically eligible to vote by mail. He had ordered the printing of roughly 1.9 million applications to send to the rest of the county’s registered voters, confident the Supreme Court would rule in his favor. They sit on six pallets in the county’s election headquarters, now likely bound for the recycling bin.
Harris County already has received more than 210,000 requests for mail ballots, about double the number from 2016. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot is Oct. 23.
NUEVA YORK(5 de octubre, 2020) – El delantero de Sporting Kansas City y seleccionado mexicano, Alan Pulido, fue elegido Jugador de la Semana de Major League Soccer correspondiente a la 15a semana de la temporada 2020 de la MLS.
Pulido registró la primera actuación con doblete de su carrera en la MLS, el pasado sábado en la victoria por 2-1 de Sporting Kansas City sobre Houston Dynamo en el BBVA Stadium. Pulido suma cinco goles y cuatro asistencias esta temporada, y Sporting KC ocupa el tercer lugar en la clasificación de la Conferencia del Oeste con 23 puntos (7V-2D-5E).
Sporting Kansas City abrió el marcador luego de que Pulido abriera el marcador a los 34 minutos. Pulido recibió un pase en profundidad de Gianluca Busio, mientras realizaba una carrera cortante que dividió a dos defensas del Dynamo, antes de meter un tiro raso al segundo palo para la ventaja 1-0 (ver gol). Pulido selló el doblete en el minuto 73, lo que le dio a Sporting KC una ventaja de 2-0, cuando recibió otro pase al área de Busio para un remate deslizante que superó al portero (ver gol).
Sporting Kansas City recibe a Chicago Fire FC el miércoles (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+ / FOX Sports KC / WGN-TV).
El Jugador de la Semana de la MLS es seleccionado cada jornada de la temporada regular a través de los medios y la votación de los fanáticos en un proceso realizado por MLS Communications. Un panel de periodistas de North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprende el 75 por ciento de los votos, mientras que un voto de los fanáticos de Twitter representa el 25 por ciento restante de la votación. NASR se compone de miembros de los medios impresos, televisivos, radiales y en línea.
Johnny Nash possessed a honeyed voice that was swoon-inducing in its lower register; and he could eke from it a crystallized aching when he needed a touch of melancholy. He had a pop idol’s looks and an ear for great international music that suggested places near and far.
Nash got his start as a teen idol in Houston and became an international superstar who played a formidable part in introducing the biggest reggae performer to the world outside of Jamaica. His career was a strange one with great global success and also a retreat into a quiet life back in his hometown.
Johnny Nash – the private man and the public star – died Tuesday at home in Houston, according to his son, John; he was 80.
A child of Third Ward, a graduate of Yates High School, a man who believed in his city and his state so much that he created a rodeo for Black cowboys in Houston, Nash screamed an affinity for his hometown even though he did so in whispered tones. After enjoying pop stardom, he spent years reflecting good things onto his city while deflecting attention from himself.
Legacy is a tricky thing because our culture’s filing mechanisms are flawed. When yesterday’s hit makers disappear, they’re often forgotten or relegated to a “Where are they now?” status. Nash was, strictly by the numbers, a man with six Top 40 hits to his name, so not a one-hit-wonder by any measure.
But he was also an artist with one song that proved popular to the point of deep cultural renown. “I Can See Clearly Now” is the sort of song artists more famous and more lauded wish they could have written and recorded. It’s the kind of song where even the artist disappears into its ubiquity, leaving the song as a pure artifact. It’s a song people know, even when they don’t know the singer or the story behind it.
Nash left behind albums of wonderful music and a formidable legacy. But even to those who don’t know his name, he left behind one song that transcends time and place. The legendary rock critic Robert Christgau called it “the kind of song that can get you through a traffic jam.”
“I Can See Clearly Now” is an anthem for troubled times, whether those times are 1972, when the song was released, or 2020, when it feels agelessly urgent.
The hit
Best to get to the song first, because it looms so large. Liam Omaonlai, singer in the Irish band Hothouse Flowers, said the song’s tone “has the blues of generations of resistance and survival in it.”
He’s not wrong: For all the positivity that courses through “I Can See Clearly Now,” it isn’t a foolish attempt to squinch closed one’s eyes and wish away the bad. Rather Nash’s eyes were clear and open when he wrote a song of endurance that noted “all obstacles in my way.” It’s a song about clarity when times are foggy.
Ray Charles and Willie Nelson covered it. Admittedly, Ray Charles and Willie Nelson covered many songs in their distinguished careers, songs considered part of the Great American Songbook, classics from the first 50 years of American vocal music. Reggae stars like Jimmy Cliff and Toots Hibbert sang it. So did more pop-minded acts like Donnie Osmond and Sonny & Cher. It has appeared in films and TV shows and commercials so many times that it’s branded in the larger cultural consciousness.
“I Can See Clearly Now” is a song of perfect construction, its little parts all setting a tone that pushes the positivity and underscores the challenges threaded throughout it. It reached No. 1 in 1972 but it took a slow path to the top of the charts that reflected Nash’s slow path to stardom.
The Texans have fired coach and general manager Bill O’Brien on Monday, effective immediately.
Assistant Romeo Crennel will take over as the interim head coach. Crennel previously served as head coach of the Browns and Chiefs.
O’Brien had coached the Texans to a winless start through four games.
“Bill was very professional,” owner Cal McNair said. “He thanked us for the opportunity and was sorry he couldn’t get us over the hump.
“On behalf of my family and our entire organization, I want to sincerely thank Bill O’Brien and his family for their impact on our franchise,” McNair added in a statement released by the team. “Bill’s leadership moved our organization forward as he guided us to four AFC South division championships, 52 wins and multiple playoff appearances during his tenure. Bill proved himself as a coach and leader in this league. I spoke with him earlier today and told him we are moving in a different direction. Romeo Crennel will serve as our interim head coach for the remainder of the 2020 season. We have a talented team and I have no doubt our players and staff will rally to make Texans fans proud as we aim to win championships and do great things for the city of Houston.”
Texans players were not shocked by O’Brien being fired after being informed during a meeting this afternoon, only by the timing of the termination, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
O’Brien had lost the confidence of the organization and several players and staff members and was increasingly prone to arguments with staff, including in front of players on the practice field, per sources.
O’Brien’s legendary temper flared up multiple times in recent years with a series of verbal confrontations throughout the building at Kirby Drive.
O’Brien was hired by the Texans since 2014 after coaching at Penn State. He had a 52-48 record as head coach and went 2-4 in the playoffs.
He won AFC South division titles each of the past two seasons, but the team’s trade sending All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona backfired and now the team is in crisis.
O’Brien won power struggles over former Texans general managers Rick Smith and Brian Gaine. Each time, he emerged with more power and authority. Now, he’s out of a job.
Texans executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby is expected to be instrumental in guiding the organization through this transition. Easterby was hired last year after previous stints with the Patriots and Chiefs. He has operated in a versatile role with the Texans, which has included negotiating contract extensions for Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson (four years, $156 million), Pro Bowl offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (three years, $66 million) and inside linebacker Zach Cunningham ( four years, $58 million), as well as helping the coaching staff, medical and analytics departments.
Among the logical candidates for an attractive head-coaching vacancy are Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman and Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll along with Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale and Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Three workers are dead and one is injured after a stairwell collapsed at the future headquarters of Marathon Oil.
The collapse occurred at 1:32 p.m. Monday at the 15-story tower under construction on Town & Country Boulevard, near CityCentre mixed-use development, according to the Houston Fire Department.
Three people died when the interior stairwell failed. The injured worker was rescued and taken to the hospital in stable condition, HFD confirmed.
At a 5 p.m. news conference, HFD Asst. Chief Ruy Lozano provided new details. He said the incident occurred in the scissor stairwell around the building’s 13/14th floors. The stairwell crumpled, falling “pancake style,” bringing the stairwells and landings below down with it, trapping the bodies of the three workers in the rubble.
Lozano said firefighters were concerned about potential secondary collapses around the stairwell.
“Currently, there is no body recovery in process,” he said.
Building engineers from the construction company and the city of Houston were evaluating the building and working to make sure it was fully stabilized, he said, explaining that recovering the bodies of the three construction workers killed in the collapse could take “hours to days.”
“We’re going to take all the time necessary to ensure the safe recovery of the bodies,” Lozano said. It’s a very unstable structure.”
All 240 workers have been accounted for, officials said. The collapse was internal, but from the outside, the stairwell could be seen lying in heaps.
The Houston Fire Department Rescue Team is on site and working with an engineer.
Hines is the development manager of the future Marathon site. Harvey Builders is the general contractor. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the office building is scheduled to be completed summer 2021.
Houston-based Harvey Builders is one of the city’s largest private companies. It had $1.4 billion in revenue last year, according to a 2020 Chronicle survey.
Week 5 of the 2020 NFL season gets underway on Thursday, October 8 (8:20 PM ET, FOX/NFL Network/Amazon Prime), as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Chicago Bears in a matchup of 3-1 teams. It will mark the 60th meeting between the two franchises, with the Bears holding an all-time series lead, 39-20. Chicago won the team’s last meeting, 48-10, in Week 4 of the 2018 season.
Last week, Tampa Bay quarterback TOM BRADY passed for 369 yards with five touchdowns as the Buccaneers overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers, 38-31. Brady became the third quarterback in NFL history with 30 career games of at least four touchdown passes and ranks third in league annals with seven career games of at least five touchdown passes. In three career starts at Chicago, Brady has passed for 974 yards (324.7 per game) with eight touchdowns and two interceptions for a 103.0 rating. Buccaneers wide receiver MIKE EVANS had seven receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown in Week 4 and leads the NFL with five touchdown catches in 2020. Evans has 33 receptions for 469 yards (93.8 per game) and two touchdowns in five career games on Thursday Night Football. Tampa Bay linebacker LAVONTE DAVID, the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Month in September, led the team with 11 tackles with one pass defensed last week. David is one of two players (BOBBY WAGNER) with at least 35 tackles (35) and three passes defensed (three) this season.
Bears quarterback NICK FOLES passed for 249 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his first start with Chicago last week. In four career starts against Tampa Bay, Foles has totaled eight touchdowns (six passing, two rushing) and a 100.6 passer rating. Last week, wide receiver ALLEN ROBINSON led the team with seven receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown, his 14th career 100-yard game. Robinson has 333 receiving yards (83.3 per game) and two touchdowns in four career games on Thursday Night Football. Robinson is one of two NFC wide receivers (TYLER LOCKETT) with at least 25 receptions (25), 300 receiving yards (331) and two touchdown catches (two) this season. Linebacker KHALIL MACK recorded a sack and forced fumble in the 2018 meeting against Tampa Bay and aims for his third in a row against the Buccaneers with a sack and forced fumble. Since joining the Bears in 2018, Mack is one of three players (CHANDLER JONES and T.J. WATT) with at least 20 sacks (22.5) and 10 forced fumbles (11).
Adding to television availability, several streaming options will be available to fans. FOX Thursday Night Football games will be available to stream on Amazon via Prime Video and Twitch in addition to NFL, FOX and FOX Deportes digital properties across devices.* During the season, fans can learn all of the ways to watch at NFL.com/TNF.
For the Week 5 Tampa Bay-Chicago capsule, click here.
*NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video and Twitch simulcast subject to change.
The Houston Dynamo continue their season at BBVA Stadium and we are happy to welcome limited number of fans back to root on the squad as they push for the playoffs. Tickets for Wednesday’s FC Dallas game and October 14th’s Nashville SC game are on sale now!
Purchase your tickets now by clicking on the game you want to attend below!
BBVA Stadium has worked to develop a plan to enable a limited number of fans to attend Houston Dash home matches in a manner that is as safe as possible, while following government regulations, required health and safety protocols and guidance from medical experts, including social distancing.
Matches will have additional measures to ensure the safest possible experience for Guests.
Social Distanced Seating & Limited Capacity
Digital Tickets Only via the AXS App (ios & Android) & Cashless Only Purchases In-Stadium
Tickets will be Non-Transferable and Unavailable for Re-Sale
Spectator Waiver will be Required for Ticket Purchase
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stricken by COVID-19, a feverish and fatigued President Donald Trump was flown to a military hospital Friday night where he is being given Remdesivir therapy after being injected with an experimental drug combination in treatment at the White House.
In a day of whipsaw events, the president, who has spent months downplaying the threat of the virus, was forced to cancel all campaign events a month before the election as he fought a virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans and is hitting others in his orbit as well.
The White House said Trump’s expected stay of “a few days” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was precautionary and that he would continue to work from the hospital’s presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties.
Trump walked out of the White House Friday evening wearing a mask and gave a thumbs-up to reporters but did not speak before boarding Marine One. Members of the aircrew, Secret Service agents and White House staff wore face coverings to protect themselves from the president onboard the helicopter.
In a video taped before leaving for Walter Reed, Trump said, “I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure that things work out.” He remained fully president, all authority intact.
“Going welI, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!” he wrote in his first tweet from the hospital Friday night.
Just a month before the presidential election, Trump’s revelation that he was positive for the virus came by tweet about 1 a.m. Friday after he had returned from a Thursday afternoon political fundraiser. He had gone ahead to the event, saying nothing to the crowd though knowing he had been exposed to an aide with the disease that has infected millions in America and killed more than a million worldwide.
First lady Melania Trump also tested positive, the president said, and several others in the White House have, too, prompting concern that the White House or even Trump himself might have spread the virus further. He said in his video that his wife was doing very well.
Several administration officials pointed to the Saturday Rose Garden announcement of Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as the possible connection between cases that spanned Washington Friday. Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, the president of the University of Notre Dame, and at least two Republican lawmakers who were also present at the event — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis — announced Friday they had tested positive and were isolating.
Also testing positive: Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien. Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh confirmed news, first reported by Politico, that Stepien received a diagnosis Friday and is experiencing “mild flu-like symptoms.” Stepien, who joined Trump at Tuesday’s first presidential debate, plans to quarantine until he recovers.
Trump’s diagnosis came during an already turbulent period in Washington and around the world, with the U.S. gripped in a heated presidential election amid the human and economic toll of the virus. Trump’s immediate campaign events were all canceled, and his next debate with Democrat Joe Biden, scheduled for Oct. 15, is now in question.
Trump has been trying all year — and as recently as Wednesday — to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is past, and he has consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable. He has mostly refused to abide by basic public health guidelines — including those issued by his own administration — such as wearing face coverings in public and practicing social distancing. Until he tested positive, he continued to hold campaign rallies that drew thousands of often maskless supporters.
“I felt no vulnerability whatsoever,” he told reporters back in May. With the election coming up in about a month, he is urging states and cities to “reopen” and reduce or eliminate shutdown rules despite continuing virus outbreaks.
The White House tried to maintain an atmosphere of business-as-usual on Friday.
“President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”
The president’s physician said in a memo that Trump received a dose of an experimental antibody combination by Regeneron that is in clinical trials. Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley said Trump “remains fatigued but in good spirits” and that a team of experts was evaluating both the president and first lady in regard to next steps.
Late Friday, Conley issued an update that said Trump is “doing very well” and is “not requiring any supplemental oxygen,” But he said that, “in consultation with specialists we have elected to initiate Remdesivir therapy,” an antiviral medication.
“He has completed his first dose and is resting comfortably,” the doctor wrote.
The first lady, who is 50, has a “mild cough and headache,” Conley reported, and the remainder of the first family, including the Trumps’ son Barron, who lives at the White House, tested negative.
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide.
Both Democratic presidential nominee Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have tested negative, their campaign said. Vice President Mike Pence tested negative for the virus Friday morning and “remains in good health,” his spokesman said. Pence was to resume his campaign schedule after his test.
Barrett, who was with Trump and many others on Saturday and has been on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers, also tested negative, the White House said. It was confirmed that she had a mild case of COVID earlier this year and has now recovered.
Very early Friday, after returning from the Thursday afternoon New Jersey fundraiser, Trump stunningly tweeted, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Hours earlier, the White House confirmed that a top aide who had traveled with him during the week had tested positive.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday confirmed that the White House knew Hope Hicks, the aide, had tested positive before Trump attended the fundraiser.
“I can tell you in terms of Hope Hicks, we discovered that right as Marine One was taking off yesterday,” said Meadows. Several staffers were pulled from the trip, but Trump did not cancel and there was no direct evidence that her illness was connected to his.
Many White House and senior administration officials were undergoing tests Friday, but the full scale of the outbreak around the president may not be known for some time as it can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test. Officials with the White House Medical Unit were tracing the president’s contacts.
Trump’s handling of the pandemic has already been a major flashpoint in his race against Biden, who spent much of the summer off the campaign trail and at his home in Delaware citing concern about the virus. Biden has since resumed a more active campaign schedule, but with small, socially distanced crowds. He also regularly wears a mask in public, something Trump mocked him for at Tuesday night’s debate.
“I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
In a tweet Friday morning, Biden said he and his wife “send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.”
World leaders offered the president and first family their best wishes after their diagnosis, and governments used the case as a reminder for their citizens to wear masks and practice social distancing measures.
Multiple White House staffers have previously tested positive for the virus, including Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, national security adviser Robert O’Brien and one of the president’s personal valets. An RNC official confirmed Friday that Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel learned she had tested positive Wednesday afternoon. She has been at her home in Michigan since last Saturday and did not attend the debate.
It is unclear where the Trumps or Hicks caught the virus, but in a Fox interview, Trump seemed to suggest it may have been spread by someone in the military or law enforcement in greetings.
The White House began instituting a daily testing regimen for the president’s senior aides after earlier positive cases close to the president. Anyone in close proximity to the president or vice president is also tested every day, including reporters.
Trump is far from the first world leader to test positive for the virus, which previously infected Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent a week in the hospital, including three nights in intensive care. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalized last month while fighting what he called a “hellish” case of COVID-19.
