TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pence not in quarantine after aide tests positive for corona
The Trump administration has no plans to keep President Donald Trump and Pence apart, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, as concerns rise about the spread of the coronavirus within the White House.
Change Size
US Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence leave the Rose Garden of the White House following National Day of Prayer event at the White House May 07, 2020 in Washington, DC. (AFP/Chip Somodevilla)
V
ice President Mike Pence is not in quarantine and plans to be at the White House on Monday, a spokesman said on Sunday, despite media reports that Pence was self-isolating after a staffer tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine," spokesman Devin O’Malley said in a statement.
"Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow,” the statement added.
The Trump administration has no plans to keep President Donald Trump and Pence apart, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, as concerns rise about the spread of the coronavirus within the White House.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Pence's spokeswoman, Katie Miller, had tested positive for the virus, a day after news that Trump’s personal valet also had tested positive.
Trump said he himself had not been in contact with the spokeswoman, who is married to White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, but that she had spent time with the vice president.
Pence press secretary Katie Miller is the only person in this photo without a mask. Today news broke that she has coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/5keMNtN6Fv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 9, 2020
Both Trump, 73, and Pence, 60, have drawn criticism for not donning face coverings despite a recommendation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to do so in certain public settings.
Trump has said he would not wear a mask and has not publicly worn one to any of his events during the pandemic, but told reporters last week he tried some on behind the scenes during his visit to a Honeywell International Inc mask factory in Arizona.
Because of the possible coronavirus exposure from his staffer, Pence chose not to attend Trump's meeting Saturday with military leaders at White House. One of joint chiefs who wasn't there, Michael Gilday, chief of Naval Operations, just tested negative for coronavirus, I'm told. https://t.co/eOSPAYdv2n
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 10, 2020
A Bloomberg reporter tweeted on Sunday that Pence was self-isolating away from the White House following his aide's diagnosis, prompting Pence's office to issue the statement. NBC News reported that Pence was putting "a little distance" between himself and others over the weekend.
Three senior officials guiding the US response to the coronavirus pandemic also were in self-quarantine on Saturday after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for the disease, their agencies and spokesmen said.
The officials were Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn.
