-Blank NEWS Online (NIGERIA) –By Foreign Desk Correspondent:
President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence and most White House Aides would not stay out for 14 days, the recommended time frame to quarantine once exposed to the virus.
Two staff members were diagnosed with the coronavirus during the week, raising questions about a safe work environment for Trump, Pence and their staff at the White House.
It is however not yet clear on Saturday, if the staff who tested positive, Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller and a military valet to the president would self-quarantine.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Judd Deere has said:
“The president’s physician and White House operations continue to work closely to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the president, first family and the entire White House complex safe and healthy at all times.
“In addition to social distancing, daily temperature checks and symptom histories, hand sanitizer, and regular deep cleaning of all work spaces, every staff member in proximity to the president and vice president is being tested daily for covid-19 as well as any guests.”
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, both task force members, said they are self-quarantining or teleworking for two weeks afterexposure to a coronavirus case at the White House.
Official’s are now taking varied levels of precaution in response to the positive cases at the White House, having been encouraged to “practice maximum telework” and to “work remotely if at all possible.”
It remains unclear whether some White House officials and other members of the coronavirus task force have been in closer proximity to the infected aides than others and therefore would be at greater risk of contracting the virus.
But concerns were evident at the White House, where there is worry that if Miller and the unidentified personal valet to Trump are infected, then multiple officials may be at risk.
After news of Miller’s diagnosis, aides were going through seating charts, looking at her schedule to discern where she had been and trying to question anyone who may have been close to her in a room.
Miller, who had told other colleagues that she did not have symptoms, attended a senior staff meeting on the coronavirus at 8 a.m. on Friday and was near other aides, rattling some of her White House colleagues. Neither Trump nor Pence was in the meeting.
A number of aides from Pence’s office were sent home on Friday after the contact tracing was complete. Miller is married to top White House aide Stephen Miller, who is expected to quarantine at home for the time being.
