Trump demands personal protection from contracting COVID-19 as he downplays pandemic: report

According to a report from CNN, Donald Trump is deathly afraid of getting the COVID-19 virus and is pressing White House aides to come up with ways to protect him from being infected while at the same time downplaying the health crisis to the public.

With reports that yet another White House staffer has tested positive for the virus, and Trump 2020 campaign staff in modified quarantine after the campaign rally in Tulsa last week, the president has insisted protections be ramped around him.

On major concern to the president is how it would look if he came down sick during a time when he is falling behind presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the polls.

According to CNN, "As he seeks to insert rival Joe Biden's health into the presidential campaign, Trump has voiced escalating concern about how it would appear if he contracted coronavirus and has insisted on steps to protect himself, even as he refuses to wear a mask in public and agitates for large campaign rallies where the virus could spread."

With Trump refusing to wear a mask in public, while at the same time insisting that he be allowed to hold rallies despite health officials warnings, aides to the president are being forced to take extra measures to protect the president.

'Every venue the President enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams, according to people familiar with the arrangements," CNN reports. "Bathrooms designated for the President's use are scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives. Staff maintain a close accounting of who will come into contact with the President to ensure they receive tests."

Additionally, White House staff are subjected to constant monitoring, including temperature checks.

The CNN report also notes that the president has taken himself out of the loop on the government's attempts to halt the once-again increasing spread of the virus.

"Though Trump regularly phones Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for updates on the outbreak, he rarely speaks to the other members of the task force. While testifying on Capitol Hill this week, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refused to say when he had last talked to Trump," CNN reports. "And the US Food and Drug Administration commissioner and other top aides conceded it had been weeks since they had last spoken with him."

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