Updated at 12 p.m. on Oct. 4

A steady stream of customers this afternoon flowed into the New England for Trump store in Bellingham. Patrons young and old were shopping for “Trump 2020” lawn signs and bumper stickers, “Socialism Sucks” t-shirts and facemasks emblazoned with the presidential seal (Trump 2020 facemasks were sold out). Everyone was excited to purchase some presidential swag and no one seemed much bothered by today’s announcement that President Donald Trump has come down with COVID.

“I don’t think anyone is honestly concerned about Trump having COVID because — unlike the left — we’re not brainwashed into thinking that this is something that is this massive killer,” said Sean Kennelly, 34, the store’s manager. “It’s a flu, it’s a strain of a flu. It’s a slightly worse strain of flu for some people, it can be deadly for some people, but it’s a flu that we’re going to have to learn to deal with.”

The World Health Organization said in April that COVID-19 is 10 times deadlier than swine flu, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates killed between 151,700 and 575,400 people worldwide during the 2009-2010 pandemic.

Almost all the customers wore masks, which is a store policy. And no one denied the existence of the pandemic, an outlook often ascribed to Trump fans.

Brenda, a woman from Rhode Island who didn’t give her last name, said she was going to keep praying for the president and his family.

“I think it’s going to turn around, he’s going to be fine,” she said. “I wear a mask and I try to keep my distance. I think some of it is political now, and the anxiety is causing more problems than anything.”

Brenda added that she believes the anxiety is being fueled by scientists and high-tech workers who are leftists being funded by China.

“He’s probably the best president we’ve had in ages… outside of Reagan,” she said.

That sentiment was not echoed today by most callers to GBH’s Boston Public Radio on Friday. Many of those speaking with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan said they thought the president was falsely claiming to have COVID for some political purpose.

Sam Marceau, visiting the shop from South Attleboro with her husband, called that nonsense.

“I just feel bad, you know, [Trump] coming down with COVID. I hope he pulls through it,” she said. “I’ve heard comments that he’s just doing it for publicity, but I don’t think so.” Speaking through his mask, her husband Don agreed. “He’s real, he tells it like it is. He wouldn’t do that."

There are 19 New England for Trump shops around the region, from New York through New Hampshire, including Cape Cod.

John John Iker, from Florida, was visiting the merchandise trailer in Falmouth Friday. He said the president's diagnosis makes him a little bit more concerned about the seriousness of the coronavirus, but it doesn’t change his vote.

“I believe in karma… so that’s what I say. It is what it is," Iker said. “It’s surprising and I’m sure it’s concerning to everybody with [the election] so close and all that. I don’t think it’s good for him at all.”

In downtown Boston, Steve Hardy from Gloucester said he voted for Trump in 2016, and plans to again in 2020 — but he also saw karma was at play.

“I think he kind of was neglectful and it came back around," Hardy said. "He acted a fool. Just this little thing — a little bandana, a little cloth. All he had to do was wear it and he probably wouldn’t have contracted it."

Edgar B. Herwick III and Eve Zuckoff contributed reporting.