'Anyone Can Catch This': Sarah Palin, 12-Year-Old Son Trig Test Positive For COVID-19
The former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has tested positive for COVID-19.
The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate nominee revealed that she contracted the virus along with some of her family members.
"As confident as I'd like to be about my own health, and despite my joking that I'm blessed to constantly breathe in the most sterile (frozen!) air, my case is perhaps one of those that proves anyone can catch this," she said.
Palin revealed that one of the other family members that contracted COVID-19 was her 12-year-old son, Trig, who has Down syndrome.
"I then observed symptoms in my son Trig, who curiously is the most enthusiastic mask-wearer, and after our numerous negative tests over the year, he tested positive," Palin said. "Children with special needs are vulnerable to COVID ramifications [Trig was born with Down syndrome], so with a high fever he was prescribed azithromycin, which really seemed to help, and I increased amounts of vitamins I put in his puréed food."
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The TV personality said what triggered her diagnosis was one of her daughters’ symptoms, adding that her child “awoke to having lost her sense of taste and smell [and] immediately had a positive COVID test, then was quarantined in isolation."
Palin is encouraging everyone who will listen to be proactive with their health during the ongoing global pandemic in hopes of avoiding any unnecessary spread of the virus.
"I strongly encourage everyone to use common sense to avoid spreading this and every other virus out there," she said in her statement with PEOPLE, who confirmed her diagnosis. "There are more viruses than there are stars in the sky, meaning we'll never avoid every source of illness or danger ... But please be vigilant, don't be frightened, and I advise reprioritizing some personal time and resources to ensure as healthy a lifestyle as you can create so when viruses do hit, you have at least some armor to fight it."
The 57-year-old Alaskan revealed that her father just received his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Her mother died in January, but her cause of death was not disclosed.