A photo of an unmasked President Donald Trump boarding Air Force One outraged critics on social media Monday.
The image, posted by New York Times photographer Doug Mills, shows Trump surrounded by masked Secret Service agents as he approaches the plane bound for Sanford, Florida, where he held a rally, even though he was in the hospital battling Covid-19 just a week ago.
His White House physician, Sean Conley, said Monday that Trump had tested negative for the coronavirus and was no longer infectious, a claim health experts have questioned. Trump has claimed that he is now “immune” from the virus that has killed more than 215,000 people in the US.
Trump announced on October 2 that he had tested positive for the virus. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that patients who were hospitalised or needed oxygen (both of which apply to Trump) may need to remain isolated for up to 20 days.
Critics were outraged that Trump ― who was protecting himself from the rain with an umbrella ― opted not to wear a face mask to protect those around him from the coronavirus that he could still be shedding.