Coronavirus: Two US Congressmen Test Positive for Covid-19

Ben McAdams and Mario Diaz-Balart became the first members of Congress to test positive for the Covid-19.

The office of Congressman Ben McAdams, a Utah Democrat, said on March 18 that he had tested positive for the virus.

The representative said he developed “mild cold-like symptoms” after returning from Washington DC on March 14.

Ben McAdams said he immediately self-isolated at home, but “my symptoms got worse and I developed a fever, a dry cough and labored breathing”.

According to the statement, his doctor referred him on March 17 for a Covid-19 test, which came back positive on March 18.

Ben McAdams, 45, said he would remain in self-quarantine until he had recovered.

Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, also announced on March 18 that he had tested positive for coronavirus.

The 58-year-old tweeted from self-quarantine at his flat in Washington DC: “I’m feeling much better. However, it’s important that everyone take this seriously.”

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Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has vowed the US will achieve “total victory” over the coronavirus, describing himself as a “wartime president”.

At a White House press conference, the president was asked by a reporter whether he considered the country to be on a war footing in terms of fighting the virus.

He said: “It’s a war.

“I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime president.”

President Trump spoke as he revived a Korean War-era measure allowing the US to ramp up production of vital medical supplies.

According to estimates, the US has more than 9,300 cases of Covid-19 and has seen 150 deaths so far.

Globally there are some 220,000 confirmed cases and over 8,800 deaths.

President Trump has been holding daily briefings on the emergency this week after being accused of playing down the outbreak in its early stages.

He said: “We must sacrifice together, because we are all in this together, and we will come through together. It’s the invisible enemy. That’s always the toughest enemy.

“But we are going to defeat the invisible enemy. I think we are going to do it even faster than we thought, and it’ll be a complete victory. It’ll be a total victory.”

President Trump announced he was signing the 1950 Defense Production Act, which empowers the president to direct civilian businesses to help meet orders for products necessary for national security.

However, the president said later on Twitter that he would only invoke the measure “in a worst case scenario in the future”.

President Trump also described as an “absolute, total worst case scenario” a warning by his Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, that the pandemic could send US unemployment rocketing to 20%.

He said two US Navy hospitals ships would be pressed into service to help alleviate an expected shortage of sick beds.

The USNS Comfort is expected to be sent to New York Harbor, though defense officials said it is currently undergoing maintenance in Virginia.

The other vessel, USNS Mercy, is being prepared to deploy to a location on the West Coast.

During the press conference, President Trump again rejected suggestions that his use of the term “Chinese virus” to describe Covid-19 was racist.

The US-Canada border, the world’s longest, was effectively closed, except for essential travel and commerce.

President Trump also announced a new crackdown on immigrants or asylum seekers crossing the US-Mexico border.

The president said his administration would invoke a statute that allows people to be blocked in order to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.