Pa. lawmaker was informed of positive coronavirus test while meeting with Trump: report

A Republican lawmaker from Pennsylvania abruptly left a White House meeting with President Trump after he was informed that he had tested positive for COVID-19, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) was informed during the Wednesday meeting with Trump about the president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results that he had tested positive for the virus and was led away by White House medical staff, one source at the meeting told the AP.

“The president instantly called the White House doctor in and he took them back to, I guess, the medical place,” the person said.

White House officials would not confirm whether the president or any others would self-isolate after coming into contact with Mastriano. The meeting continued for about a half-hour without Mastriano after the senator left, according to the AP.

“All those in close proximity to the President are tested beforehand and any positive case is taken very seriously. If there was a positive case contact tracing was conducted by the White House Medical Unit consistent with CDC guidelines to stop further transmission and appropriate notifications and recommendations were made,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere in an emailed statement.

Trump was hospitalized last month with COVID-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and after receiving treatment falsely claimed in an interview that he was “immune” to the virus.

“It looks like I’m immune for, I don’t know, maybe a long time, maybe a short time. It could be a lifetime. Nobody really knows,” he told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo at the time.

Pennsylvania and many other states are seeing surging rates of new coronavirus infections; Pennsylvania officials have recorded a seven-day average of just under 7,000 new cases per day.

Updated at 8:55 p.m.