The president was infected with SARS-COV-2 by one of his aides, possibly Hope Hicks: Slate

This article from Slate magazine on October 6 suggests that our president received his novel coronavirus infection from his aide Hope Hicks. Ms. Hicks was on the plane with the president when he flew from Minneapolis to Duluth on Wednesday, September 30. The article claims that he was already displaying signs of illness.

From the article, on Wednesday: “Hope Hicks, an aide who had been physically close to the president for long periods during the week, felt sick.”

The article goes on to claim that he concealed his illness in order to attend fundraisers where he expected to obtain $5 million from donors.

I don’t know if I buy this whole story, but it does suggest that he was ill before he acknowledged it– and that he knowingly exposed others in his eagerness to obtain more money for his campaign. He definitely needs the money, since he has been significantly outraised by his opponent for two months running.

In fact, he has burned through more than a billion dollars in campaign cash over the last few years– a record amount of money. Despite all that spending, he is losing badly in the opinion polls, and he is getting desperate.

There is a lot to be said for the argument that this president has NOT been tested “every day” or even every other day. He has relied on testing for other people to whom he is exposed– an illogical idea. Chances are that he has not allowed himself to be subjected to an invasive post-nasal swab on a regular basis.

Like everything else, the assertion that this man is being regularly tested is so much prevarication. The rash of infections that have occurred at the White House was inevitable given that no-one there was wearing masks or respecting “social distancing.”

Other news reports say that contact tracing has not been performed to any significant extent and that the CDC’s offer of help was refused. It is the height of irresponsibility during this pandemic to not provide contact tracing to all of the people that the president has been around during the period from September 26 on.

A large event at the White House on that date has resulted in fourteen known cases of COVID-19, including Senators, the head of Notre Dame, and multiple aides. This event, among others in the ensuing days, would have to be thoroughly evaluated by trained contact tracers to prevent further spread of the virus. It will not be traced, and the pandemic will continue to spread unchecked.