Declaring himself immune, Trump to resume big rallies after infection

WASHINGTON • United States President Donald Trump said yesterday he no longer has Covid-19 and is not a virus transmission risk, as he prepares to hit the campaign trail today with a return to big rallies.

Mr Trump said tests showed he would be able to return to campaigning with no risk to others.

His doctor said last Saturday the President was not a transmission risk but did not address whether he tested negative for the virus.

"I passed the highest test, the highest standards, and I'm in great shape," the 74-year-old leader said in a Fox News interview. "It looks like I'm immune for, I don't know, maybe a long time and maybe a short time, it could be a lifetime, nobody really knows, but I'm immune," he said.

Earlier, Mr Trump rallied hundreds of supporters for a comeback event at the White House on Saturday." I am feeling great!" Mr Trump declared as he stepped out on a White House balcony - tugging off his mask to address the crowd, most of them masked under their red "Make America Great Again" hats, but with little social distancing.

"Get out and vote - and I love you," Mr Trump told supporters, who chanted "USA" and "Four more years" throughout the address lasting just under 20 minutes.

Badly trailing his 77-year-old Democratic rival Joe Biden in the polls less than four weeks from Election Day, Mr Trump has been counting the days until he can hit the trail again.

White House doctor Sean Conley said tests showed there was "no longer evidence of actively replicating virus" and that Mr Trump's viral load was "decreasing".

Guidelines from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say that, for mild or moderate Covid-19 cases, isolation and precautions can be discontinued 10 days after symptom onset, and once patients have been fever-free for 24 hours.

But the severity of Mr Trump's illness has not been confirmed.

Saturday's event set the stage for a full-fledged campaign rally today in Florida - to be followed immediately by two more in battleground Pennsylvania tomorrow and Iowa on Wednesday.

Mr Biden has slammed as "reckless" Mr Trump's determination to rally huge crowds during the pandemic - but the President has brushed the concerns aside, insisting that America has the upper hand against the virus despite a death toll of more than 214,000 and rising.

"I want you to know our nation is going to defeat this terrible China virus," Mr Trump said."It's going to disappear. It is disappearing."

While the President has declared himself recovered - and appeared smiling and energetic at the White House - doubts linger over his health.

Mr Trump's biggest liability - overwhelming public dissatisfaction over his handling of the pandemic - has returned as the headline issue of the campaign thanks to his own infection, with cases again on the rise nationwide.

Since Mr Trump and his wife Melania tested positive, the mood has shifted and mask-wearing was compulsory at Saturday's event.

A similar gathering two weeks ago, to announce the nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, has been singled out as a likely source of many of the dozens of positive cases since linked to the White House.

Mr Biden, vice-president under Mr Barack Obama, is currently close to 10 points ahead in national polls, with a solid lead in key battlegrounds.

And in the Republican camp, there is increasingly palpable concern about the state of the race.

"If on Election Day people are angry and they've given up hope and they're depressed... I think it could be a terrible election," Senator Ted Cruz warned last Friday.

"I think we could lose the White House and both houses of Congress, that it could be a bloodbath of Watergate proportions."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS