NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a few moments Friday to send his best wishes for a speedy recovery to President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump after they tested positive for COVID-19.
President Trump revealed the diagnosis in an early-morning tweet Friday, just hours after it was revealed that his top aide, Hope Hicks, had also tested positive for COVID-19.
The president was being admitted Friday evening to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a precaution.
"President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day. 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. President Trump appreciates the outpouring of support for both he and the First Lady," Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
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Cuomo told WCBS 880 that the White House had invited governors to join the president for a phone briefing Friday afternoon. Vice President Mike Pence, who has tested negative for the virus, instead conducted the call after the president's diagnosis.
Cuomo said the vice president did not elaborate on the president's condition, but the governor hopes it's a mild case.
"We've been through this enough times, once you test positive for COVID, they have to find out what strain of the virus you have. There's a mild strain and then there's a more severe strain. We've seen both, it seems that more of the recent cases tend to be more of a mild strain, and that's anecdotal or maybe it's just wishful thinking, but we hope that the president has a mild strain," Cuomo said.
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The governor, often a vocal Trump critic, said politics aside, he wishes both the president and the first lady well.
"This creates a lot of anxiety, I've gone through this in my family. I'm sure his children are worried," said Cuomo, whose own brother battled the virus earlier this year. "They're in our thoughts and prayers."
Cuomo said he will be sending Trump and the first lady a "New York Cares" package "to give them some comfort as they go through this."
The "get well" package will include fresh apples from upstate farms , New York City bagels, Junior's cheesecake, Dinosaur BBQ chicken wings and apple cider.
The governor added that the president's diagnosis drives home the message to take the virus seriously.
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"This is not a joke," he told WCBS 880. "We see it again with the president, who had the most sophisticated operation around him. I visited the president in the White House, you had to be tested, you had to be screened, and still he caught the virus. So it's not joke."
He reminds all New Yorkers to wear a mask and "look out for each other."
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