On Thursday, October 1, 2020, it was announced that the President and First Lady had contracted the coronavirus. Sparking a lot of discussions, many people have made their own opinions. Considering the President had a debate with former Vice President Joe Biden, a lot of people were concerned for Mr. Biden's health, but luckily he and his wife both tested negative. Within the past few days, a lot of people, who work closely with the President have come out revealing their positive COVID-19 tests. With all of this information coming out, it might be hard to keep track.

Who has contracted Coronavirus?

So far, there are many people who have contracted this disease from the President and First Lady. So much as come out about this, not everyone might know exactly what is going on. So far, there have been 27 known cases surrounding the Trump Administration; here are the most notable names and roles of those that have it.

Hope Hicks

Hope Hicks has been in the White House since 2017, starting as the Director of Strategic Communications, serving from January to September. Then she later became the Director of Communications from August 2017 up until March 2018, and later resigned from her position. During her time off, she worked Fox News as their Chief Communications until she came back to the White House as a Senior Adviser in March 2020. Hope Hicks released that she tested positive on October 1, 2020, soon after the President.

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller has had a long history of being in controversial politics. After graduating from Duke in 2007, Miller started working for Jeff Sessions, the senator at the time, in 2009 as a Communications Director. For a long time, the two of them became a "power duo" and fought against illegal immigration very publicly and even became close to Fox News reporter, Tucker Carlson. In January 2016, he joined the Trump Administration as a senior policy adviser, even writing speeches for the President himself. Since then, he has had many run-ins with reporters on his immigration policies. Stephan Miller officially came out with Coronavirus about a day ago.

Kayleigh McEnany

Kayleigh McEnany has really come into the picture this year, especially during quarantine with her many press conferences in the White House. Known to defend President Trump, she started on CNN as an avid conservative and soon-to-be Trump supporter in 2016. She interned with former President George W. Bush's communications office starting in 2004 when she was only in her high school years. In 2017, she joined the Republican National Committee as one of their national spokeswomen. Following some controversial statements, she became the White House Press Secretary in April 2020. She sadly tested positive on October 5, even after testing negative for days prior to Monday.

Ronna McDaniel

Ronna McDaniel, who many people might not know who she is since she is not in the public eye as much as other people on this list are. Well, Ronna is a chairwoman for the Republican National Committee and a well-known politician throughout the Republican Party. Though she may have not gotten the virus through anyone in the administration, she said it could be from a family member she lives with. She of course got tested and only has mild symptoms. She tested positive on September 30, 2020, and is staying in her home in Michigan.

Mike Lee

Mike Lee is one of the 2 senators for the state of Utah and has been since his election win in 2010. Lee grew up with a love for the Constitution by watching his father, Rex Lee, argue in the Supreme Court and serve as the Solicitor General under former President Ronald Reagan. Right after college, Lee worked for Utah's District Court, and then later served for the former governor's General Court through 2007. He also oversees many pressing issues for the state of Utah as the Chairman for many committees. Mike Lee tested positive on October 2, 2020.

Thom Tillis

Thom Tillis has been in the United States Senate since 2014 and has been the Republican representative for North Carolina since then. Going into politics in 2003 after a long history of family troubles he made a successful run in Cornelius, NC for the Board of Commissioners after moving there with his family. Finishing in 2005, he became a Republican for the North Carolina House of Representatives, which started later in 2007 and was distinguishable for his Conservative views. He later became speaker of the House from 2011-2014. Mr. Tillis tested positive for the coronavirus on October 2, 2020.

It is clear that the White House has had a major outbreak of the coronavirus within the past week. It is the most important thing to make sure that everyone who has contracted it has a speedy and healthy recovery and can return to their duties. Other names that were not on this list that have it include Kellyanne Conway, Chris Christie, Bill Stepien, and Ron Johnson. As of now, the only update is that President Trump and First Lady Melania are out of the hospital are back in the White House to finish their campaigns.

How Does This Affect the Election and Debates?

It is no secret that the topic of the coronavirus has had a major impact on how people are going to vote come this November, it has also come up in both debates. With President Trump having mixed reviews on how he has handled the outbreak, it is no surprise that many people were intrigued to hear about his diagnosis. Since he did not take a heavy stance from the start of it*, many people hope that the President will now take it more seriously.

Since the first debate last Tuesday, many were questioning how the upcoming debates were going to be handled. Well, during the Vice Presidential Debate that happened Wednesday, October 7, both Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris were protected by Plexiglass and sat at a safe distance away from each other. Luckily, neither Mr. Pence nor Ms. Harris have tested positive.

*Editor's note: See this Congressional timeline of the President's stances and statements concerning the novel coronavirus and COVID-19.