President Trump and wife Melania self-isolate after positive Covid test

Mr Trump announced his diagnosis in a tweet in the early hours of Friday, following a positive test from one of his closest aides.

Hope Hicks returned a positive test on Thursday, with Mr Trump later tweeting: “@FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”

His Covid-19 diagnosis is the latest among world leaders, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to intensive care after contracting the disease and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier also falling ill.

While waiting for the results of his test following Ms Hicks’ diagnosis, Mr Trump said he had found it difficult to socially distance while meeting members of the armed forces.

He told Fox News: “It’s very hard when you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, when you’re with the marines, and with the police officers, I’m with them so much.

“And when they come over to you it’s very hard to say ‘stay back, stay back’ you know, it’s a tough kind of a situation, it’s a terrible thing.”

He added: “They come over to you and they want to hug you and they want to kiss you because we really have done a good job for them and you get close and things happen.”

Other politicians to have contracted the disease include Brazilian resident Jair Bolsonaro, who president tested positive in July, and spent several weeks in isolation until he returned a negative test; Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who tested positive on the same day as the Prime Minister and MP Nadine Dorries, who was the first sitting Member of Parliament to test positive.

Celebrities to have been diagnosed with the virus include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tom Hanks, Robert Pattinson, Jim Parsons, Mel Gibson, Andrea Bocelli, Bryan Cranston and Antonio Banderas.

Singer Pink revealed that she and her three-year-old son Jameson had battled the disease.

Broadway star Nick Cordero, 41, died after being diagnosed with the illness.

West Ham manager David Moyes and players Issa Diop and Josh Cullen are currently in isolation after testing positive.

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