The White House is stepping up precautions to try and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the West Wing after two members of staff tested positive for the virus. In response, senior members of the coronavirus task force began self-quarantining on Sunday .
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were all forced to go into some degree of self-isolation after being exposed to individuals at the White House who tested positive for the coronavirus.
As President Trump attempts to project an image of confidence and resolution of the pandemic and shift his focus towards mitigating the debilitating economic effects of the crisis, the virus’ foray into the West Wing undermines and contradicts his narrative that it is safe to reopen the country and that diagnostic testing is of limited importance.
Briefings by public health experts like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx have also become far less common. Instead, economic aides like Larry Kudlow and Kevin Hasset have been sent to make appearances on Sunday talk shows and forced to field questions about testing and the safety of workplaces, issues on which they have no scientific expertise.
The proximity of the virus to the President and Vice-President has prompted “strong” precautionary measures in the White House. Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, who is also the wife of Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus a day after confirmation that Trump’s personal valet had been diagnosed with the disease.
The White House staff received a memo informing them that they would be asked, upon entry, about their symptoms, in addition to the temperature checks required for admission to the White House complex. The memo also stated that anyone who acknowledged having symptoms for the virus may be required to undergo further screening or be barred from entry.
According to senior officials, there are currently no plans to keep Donald Trump and Mike Pence apart, despite their potential exposure to the disease. In fact, Pence’s spokesperson stated that the VP does not intend to self-isolate.
Last week, former President Barack Obama delivered a scathing critique of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, calling it an “absolute chaotic disaster”, owing to the “what’s in it for me and to heck with everybody else mindset operationalized by the government”.
Meanwhile, President Trump spent the weekend trying to divert attention from the pandemic by tweeting baseless suspicions about voter-fraud in a California special congressional election on Tuesday.
Image Source: CNN
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