Pence selfisolating after aide infected
Vice President Mike Pence was selfisolating Sunday after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus last week, but he planned to return to the White House on Monday.
An administration official said Pence was voluntarily keeping his distance from other people in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has repeatedly tested negative for COVID19 since his exposure but was following the advice of medical officials.
His action came after three of the nation’s top scientists took their own protective steps following possible exposure to a White House staffer infected by the 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 Sunday. “Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow.”
Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to have tested positive for the virus in a week.
Miller’s diagnosis followed a positive test result earlier in the week for a member of the military who works as a valet to President Trump. Miller is married to one of Trump’s closest aides, Stephen Miller.
Pence was informed of the positive test Friday before he left for a daytrip to Iowa.
The three other members of the task force entering selfquarantine are Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Robert
Redfield, director of the CDC; and Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.