Michigan family sick with COVID-19 after Trump visit: ‘Some of my coworkers went to the rally’

Several members of a Michigan family became sick with the coronavirus, and they suspect their illnesses can be traced back to President Donald Trump's campaign rally last month in their area.

A Muskegon nurse gathered with her family for their first dinner together in months to celebrate her pregnancy announcement, but she woke up the next day, Oct. 22, with scratchy throat and runny nose -- which a test later confirmed were COVID-19 symptoms, reported The Daily Beast.

“I have been super careful, but it is so contagious,” she said. “I was completely in shock.”

Her parents, ages 68 and 67, also became ill with the virus, and her 86-year-old grandfather has experienced fatigue and other symptoms but has not been tested.

“I don’t think people realize,” said the nurse's mother, who coughed through a brief phone interview. “They blow it off. So far, knock on wood, we’re not critically ill, but it’s still a devastating illness. We’re on day 11, and there’s no end in sight. Last night my husband, once again, had a temperature of 104. We’re not hospitalized, but it’s still not easy.”

The nurse said she wears her mask at all times while working, except to eat and drink, but she said some of her coworkers were out sick with COVID-19, and that her hospital had seen an increase in cases since Trump's rally Oct. 17 at Muskegon County Airport, where thousands of supporters packed together.

“The rally increased cases, and a lot of people weren’t wearing masks,” she said. “Some of my patients in Muskegon think COVID is a hoax. I took X-rays on a few people wearing MAGA hats who told me that COVID is ‘just another flu.’”

The nurse said it's possible that one of her Trump-backing coworkers exposed her to the virus.

“I was watching it, and I know some of my coworkers went to the rally,” she said. “I saw the live videos on Facebook and Instagram. They were sandwiched in with each other, shoulder-to-shoulder.”