Mike Pence continues campaign tour despite chief of staff’s positive test

USA - The White House has said the vice-president, Mike Pence, plans to maintain an aggressive campaign schedule this week despite several members of his inner circle, including his chief of staff, testing positive for coronavirus. A spokesman for Pence disclosed late on Saturday that Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, had tested positive for the virus. Pence and his wife, Karen, tested negative earlier in the day and the vice-president will not alter his schedule, the spokesman said. The New York Times reported that several other members of his inner circle had also tested positive in recent days. Short’s diagnosis comes weeks after COVID-19 spread through the White House, infecting president Donald Trump, the first lady and two dozen other aides, staffers and allies.

Under criteria from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vice-president is considered a “close contact” of his chief of staff but will not quarantine, said a spokesman, Devin O’Malley. O’Malley said Pence decided to maintain his travel schedule “in consultation with the White House medical unit” and “in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel”. Those guidelines require that essential workers exposed to someone with the coronavirus closely monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and wear a mask whenever around other people.

Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease expert at George Mason University, called Pence’s decision to travel “grossly negligent” regardless of the stated justification that Pence is an essential worker. “It’s just an insult to everybody who has been working in public health and public health response,” she said. “I also find it really harmful and disrespectful to the people going to the rally” and the people on Pence’s own staff who will accompany him.

(The Guardian)