The United States presidential contest was thrown into disarray, just a month from election day, when President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he and his wife Melania Trump had tested positive for Covid-19.
The President and First Lady are well and plan to remain at home in the White House during their convalescence, with Mr Trump expected to continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering, the President's physician Sean Conley said in a memorandum. The Trumps' 14-year-old son Barron tested negative.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, his wife Jill and his running mate Kamala Harris also tested negative yesterday.
The President does have mild symptoms of the virus but remains "very energetic", White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters.
Vice-President Mike Pence, who is next in the presidential line of succession should Mr Trump be medically incapacitated, tested negative together with his wife Karen yesterday morning, his press secretary said.
While the impact of the diagnosis on the race is uncertain, Mr Trump's quarantine forces him off the campaign trail for now, a blow to his efforts to drum up support at in-person events at a time when he is trailing Mr Biden by seven points nationally.
Mr Trump was due to meet Mr Biden on Oct 15 in Miami, Florida, and on Oct 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, for the second and third presidential debates, which are now up in the air.
The President's allies sought to project the image of business as usual, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying the Senate would continue "full steam ahead" with the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Responding yesterday, Mr Biden, who debated Mr Trump at an indoor venue in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, said on Twitter: "Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the President and his family."
The President's diagnosis was announced hours after news broke that his close aide Hope Hicks, a former White House communications director who was among Mr Trump's entourage aboard Air Force One this week, had tested positive for the virus.
"Tonight, (First Lady Melania Trump) and I tested positive for Covid-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this together!" Mr Trump wrote on Twitter just before 1am (1pm, Singapore time).
The President's public schedule was updated to show that several events on his calendar for yesterday had been cancelled.
National media outlets raised a flurry of questions, including whether there would be possible disruptions to the election cycle, and even lines of succession should the President and Vice-President be medically incapacitated.
Mr Trump has consistently downplayed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, which has infected 7.3 million people in the country and killed more than 200,000, giving mixed messages about the necessity of wearing masks to slow the spread of the disease.
As recently as Thursday night, he told supporters that a vaccine was on track to be distributed before the end of the year, and that "the end of the pandemic is in sight".
Mr Trump, 74, falls within the age cohort most vulnerable to serious cases of the virus.
The White House said in June that his annual physical indicated he was healthy, although observers noted that his height of 1.9m and weight of 110.7kg at the time put him over the medical threshold for obesity.
Should the disease incapacitate him, Mr Trump's party may have to face the nightmare scenario of replacing its candidate midstream.
