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White House sanitized by cleaning crew in hazmat suits as Trump returns home amid Covid-19 treatment

A user wrote, 'I just feel sorry for the crew who are going to have to sanitize every inch of the White House that this orange has ever touched since January 2017'

As Donald Trump returned to the White House after receiving treatment at the Walter Reed Medical Center for coronavirus, a cleaning crew was seen in hazmat suits sanitizing the West Wing of the president’s official residence. On Monday, October 5, Trump took Marine One back to the White House after he spent a few days at Walter Reed. The 74-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

A few hours after his arrival, a cleaning staff member was seen sanitizing the parts of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. The room was last used on Thursday, October 1, by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who also tested positive for the virus on Monday. Her assistant, Chad Gilmartin, also could not help himself from getting infected. “After testing negatively consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms. As an essential worker, I have worked diligently to provide needed information to the American people at this time. With my recent positive test, I will begin the quarantine process and continue working on behalf of the American people,” McEnany said in a statement on Twitter. Apart from Trump, McEnany, and Gilmartin, first lady Melania and several others in the White House have also tested positive for Covid-19.

As soon as Trump reached the White House, he immediately removed his mask from his face and saluted, waved, and then began shooting a video on the South Portico’s balcony. He also released a short video on Twitter, saying: “I just left Walter Reed Medical Center, and it’s really something very special — the doctors, the nurses, the first responders — and I learned so much about coronavirus. And one thing that’s for certain, don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re gonna beat it. We have the best medical equipment; we have the best medicines — all developed recently — and you’re gonna beat it.”

He added, “We’re the greatest country in the world. We’re going back, we’re going back to work, we’re gonna be out front. As your leader, I had to do that. I knew there’s danger to it, but I had to do it. I stood out front; I led. Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did, and I know there’s a risk, there’s a danger, but that’s okay. And now I’m better and maybe I’m immune, I don’t know. “But don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there, be careful. We have the best medicines in the world, and it all happened very shortly, and they’re all getting approved, and the vaccines are coming momentarily. Thank you very much — and Walter Reed, what a group of people. Thank you very much.”

But the POTUS also faced backlash for being “careless” despite testing positive as CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins posted a video of Trump as he returned to the official residence. She wrote, “Only days into his diagnosis, the first thing President Trump does when he gets back to the White House is take his mask off.” In the video, Collins was also heard saying: “Yeah, and let us remind viewers now that the president is on steroids and a drug that fewer than 10 people outside of clinical trials have gotten inside the United States to deal with coronavirus. He had a level of treatment and a level of care that most Americans would not get. That’s understandable, he is the president of the United States, obviously, everyone expects that.”

“But what the president is portraying by taking his mask off when he gets back to the Truman balcony to give this grand return to the White House, is that everything is fine and, as he said, don’t let coronavirus control your life. But that is very much still a president who has coronavirus. Despite the lights and the flags and the staged entrance that the president wants to create, he still has coronavirus and he is only a few days into the diagnosis. And Erin today his doctor didn’t reveal a lot of information as he hasn’t for the past two days, but he did still say that he will not breathe a sigh of relief until Monday. That’s a full week from today,” she added.

Besides, journalist Chris Cuomo slammed Trump for ignoring face mask. The CNN anchor said: “There he is, hair blown majestically. Reshooting the scene for his own ad,' said Cuomo, adding 'What a bunch of bull****. He didn’t just walk in the White House one time with no mask tonight. He had his video crew capture that stupid scene again so he could put out propaganda.”

Many people on Twitter also disagreed with Trump and took a dig at the White House cleaning process. One user wrote: "I just feel sorry for the crew who are going to have to sanitize every inch of the White House that this orange has ever touched since January 2017." Another one added: "Right now this is the only way to sanitize the White House. Anyone know how to contact Aliens?"