Covid 19 coronavirus: Trump's golf club fundraiser hours before announcing infection 'put lives at risk'

President Donald Trump's fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club hours before he announced he had contracted the coronavirus was wrong and "put lives at risk", New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said on Monday.

Murphy called the trip the "wrong decision at every level" and said it should have been cancelled.

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The state is trying to keep tabs on the 206 attendees and 19 workers in an effort to thwart a potential outbreak stemming from the large gathering on Thursday, which included an indoor roundtable with the president that one attendee said lasted 45 minutes or more, he said.

Golfers at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, where the president held a fundraiser hours before confirming he had tested positive for Covid. AP Photo / Seth Wenig

"The actions leading up to and following this event have put lives at risk," Murphy said at an afternoon news conference. "This is very much a race against the clock."

Murphy, a Democrat, made several television appearances on Monday, saying state and federal officials were still working on contact tracing. He urged anyone at the club while the president was there to quarantine for two weeks.

President Donald Trump gestures to photographers after returning from Bedminster, in New Jersey. AP Photo / Carolyn Kaster

"If you think you've been in touch or in the midst of someone who is Covid positive you've got to take yourself off the field," he said. "This borders on reckless in terms of exposing people."

The president attended a campaign fundraiser at his Trump National Golf Course on Thursday afternoon after disclosing that a close aide tested positive for the virus.

President Donald Trump shown arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport to attend a fundraiser at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster on October 1. AP Photo / Evan Vucci

White House spokesman Judd Deere said the president didn't have any contact with donors or staff that would be considered close, based on the CDC guidelines of longer than 15 minutes and within 1.8m.

But Dr Rich Roberts, a pharmaceutical executive from New Jersey who made a video describing the event, said he sat a seat away from Trump during the indoor roundtable.

Rich said the event involved about 19 people and lasted perhaps 45 minutes. Roberts did not return messages Sunday seeking comment about the video, which was posted on a local news site, The Lakewood Scoop.

- AP

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