Melania Trump says son Barron previously tested positive for coronavirus
White House initially said the 14-year-old was negative
Melania Trump said Wednesday that she and U.S. President Donald Trump's teenage son, Barron, tested positive for the coronavirus not long after his parents but had no symptoms.
She made the revelation in a lengthy note chronicling her personal experience with COVID-19, including being hit with a "roller coaster" of symptoms that she treated naturally with vitamins and healthy food.
Trump said she is now negative and hopes to resume her duties soon.
After she and the president tested positive earlier this month, the White House said 14-year-old Barron had tested negative. Barron later tested positive for the virus but had no symptoms, she said Wednesday, adding that he has since tested negative again.
"Barron's fine," the president told reporters as he departed the White House for a campaign trip to Iowa.
After she and her husband first received their positive results, "naturally, my mind went immediately to our son," Melania Trump said. She said she was relieved when he tested negative at first but was worried about the days to come.
"My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive," she wrote in a statement released to social media.
Trump said she was "glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together."
'Roller coaster' of COVID-19 symptoms
Donald Trump has called his bout with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, a " blessing in disguise." He was hospitalized for three days and treated with various therapies and drugs, including steroids, supplemental oxygen and an experimental antibody treatment.
Melania Trump did not explain why Barron's positive diagnosis was not made public earlier.
WATCH | Trump claims he's now immune to the coronavirus after being infected:
As for her own trials with the disease, she said she was "fortunate" to have had minimal symptoms, "though they hit me all at once and it seemed to be a roller coaster of symptoms in the days after."
She described body aches, a cough and headaches, and said she felt extremely tired most of the time.
To treat it, "I chose to go a more natural route in terms of medicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food," she said.
She praised the care provided by Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, and his team, and said it was an "unfamiliar feeling" to be the patient.
"It was me being taken care of now, and getting first-hand experience with all that COVID-19 can do," she said.
She acknowledged her family was "fortunate" to have received "the kind of care that we did." She added, "If you are sick, or if you have a loved one who is sick, I am thinking of you and will be thinking of you every day."
The coronavirus has infected nearly 7.9 million people in the U.S. and killed more than 216,000, according to the latest count from Johns Hopkins University.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has made the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic an issue in the presidential campaign.
Most coronavirus patients suffer mild to moderate symptoms and recover quickly, typically anywhere from two to six weeks, according to the World Health Organization, though older, sicker patients tend to take longer to get well.