Trump calls for in-person schooling while touting teenage son’s COVID-19 recovery [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• At his rally in Iowa Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the country has to “get the children back to school” while sharing that his 14-year-old son Barron tested positive for COVID-19.
• Barron’s COVID-19 diagnosis was confirmed by First Lady Melania Trump in a statement posted on the White House official website.
• The president argued that the “cure cannot be worse than the problem itself,” and that the lockdowns are only harming children’s education.

At his rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the US has to “get the children back to school” while admitting that his teenage son tested positive for COVID-19.

In a personal statement posted on the White House official website on Wednesday morning, First lady Melania Trump confirmed that their son Barron, 14, had also contracted the virus during the same period she and the president had it.

“Barron Trump, he had the corona 19,” Trump said at the rally.

“He had it for such a short period of time I don’t even think he knew he had it because they’re young and their immune systems are strong and they fight it off 99.9%, and Barron is beautiful and he’s free,” he added.

In her statement, the first lady said that Baron initially tested negative but then tested positive later.

“Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms,” Melania wrote. “In one way I 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. He has since tested negative.”

Earlier this month, the president was hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while Melania was nursed at the White House. Trump received several treatments, such as dexamethasone, an experimental antibody cocktail, and supplemental oxygen.

“When I had it, maybe you might’ve read, maybe most of you don’t know this but I had it, too… I didn’t love it. You know, it’s a little tough and you have a temperature and you don’t feel good,” he shared during the rally.

Aside from talking about his family’s COVID-19 diagnosis, Trump also asked schools nationwide that are currently enforcing virtual learning or hybrid of virtual and in-person classes to send back children to school completely in-person.

At the end of last month, the country’s largest school district in New York City, with over 1.1 million students and 75,000 teachers, reopened on a hybrid schedule. Meanwhile, schools in Chicago and Los Angeles remain on virtual learning.

“The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself… And if you look at what’s happening with these lockdowns to children — get the children back to school,” Trump said.

Despite their condition, some children who were infected with the virus were sent by their parents to in-person schooling. Last month, Wisconsin officials said that they were investigating several instances wherein parents sent their kids back to school despite having COVID-19.

Source: AOL.com