Trump tests positive for Covid-19

US equity futures slid with Asian stocks and the dollar climbed after president Donald Trump said he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

S&P 500 contracts had dipped earlier after the House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion Democrat-only fiscal stimulus package that Republicans reject.

Trump said in a tweet that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19. The president said they will begin “quarantine and recovery process immediately.”

The president was tested after Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, also tested positive. Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday.

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the Tuesday presidential debate and to a Minnesota rally on Wednesday. She felt poorly in Minnesota and quarantined aboard the presidential plane on the way home, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump said in an interview late Thursday on Fox News that he would get his results “either tonight or tomorrow morning.” The president said later, in a tweet, that he and First Lady would begin quarantine while waiting on their results.

The development is likely to inflame criticism of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic. Trump seldom wears a mask and has resumed large campaign rallies with thousands of supporters, few in masks, including two recent indoor events in Arizona and Nevada.

Hicks is the latest person in Trump’s orbit to contract the virus, which has infected more than 7.2 million Americans and killed more than 200,000. Other senior staff have contracted Covid-19 and recovered including National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.

Read: How many South Africans say they can’t pay their bills right now