It was with a sense of shock and concern that we woke up to the news Friday morning that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had contracted the COVID-19 virus.

By Friday night, the president had been taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after sources said he was exhibiting symptoms such as fatigue and a fever and his oxygen levels may have dropped.

In a certain sense, it's not since the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan that there has been so clear a threat to the life of a sitting president.

Politics is a bitter game and it's especially so right now a month away from a contentious election. We may fundamentally disagree with each other on key issues about the direction of this country, but there are times when we're reminded that we are all Americans. We send our good wishes and prayers to the president and first lady and hope for their quick recovery.

This pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of life over the past six months. More than 7 million Americans have contracted the virus and over 200,000 have died. The fact that the virus has now infiltrated the highest echelons of our government underscores just how contagious and dangerous it can be.

A virus does not care if you're rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, powerful or not. The virus only cares about multiplying and spreading as much as it can.

CDC guidelines and public health measures are not a guarantee of avoiding the virus, but flaunting them is a guarantee to help spread it. The reality is that President Trump has often downplayed the severity of the situation and shrugged off the use of face masks. The president has often said he did not want to cause panic in the country, but there's a difference between causing panic and giving the American people the straight facts about the situation we're all facing.

At certain times over the weekend, details about the president's condition provided by his doctors and White House staff seemed to contradict each other. While it's understandable not to release every detail, the American people should not be misled about the health of the president. Without the straight facts, anxious imaginations lead to wild conspiracy theories that are neither helpful nor productive.

The president is, no doubt, receiving some of the best medical care available anywhere in the world. He could use this moment to communicate to a nervous nation just how serious this pandemic is and the kind of sacrifice it will take to overcome it.