Vice president becomes highestranking U.S. official to take precautions due to COVID-19
Washington: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has been distancing himself from others, but is not in self-quarantine, after his press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus, an administration official said yesterday.
“Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical
Unit and is not in quarantine,”
Devin O’Malley, the vice president’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
“Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow.”
The Associated Press and Bloomberg News both used the term “self-isolating” to describe Mr Pence’s preventative measure, but NBC News cited a senior official as saying that “Pence’s precautions did not amount to self-isolation because there are no restrictions on his schedule.”
The official added that the vice president “will be a low key for the next couple of days,” according to the NBC News report. Mr Pence, who leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is the latest and highest-ranking member of the administration to take restrictive measures to avoid social contact, after President Donald Trump last Friday confirmed that Mr Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, had tested positive for the coronavirus.