Fauci, White House task force officials begin quarantine

Heads of CDC, FDA had exposure to person positive for COVID-19

Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, is putting himself in “modified quarantine” after possibly being exposed to a White House staffer with coronavirus, CNN reported Saturday.

Fauci, 79, told CNN correspondent Jake Tapper that the contact was “low risk” —meaning he did not have direct contact with the sick staffer.

A test Friday found Fauci did not have COVID-19, CNN reported.

Fauci plans to be tested every day, and will work from home wearing a mask, the network said. Fauci might eventually go to his office at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, where he is the only person working, said the news channel.

It’s unclear which White House staffer may have exposed Fauci to the virus. However, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller, who tested positive on Friday, often sits in on White House coronavirus task force meetings that Fauci attends.

Miller is married to Stephen Miller, a top Trump aide.

Two other members of the coronavirus task force are also in quarantine after “low risk exposure” to someone in the White House.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be “teleworking for the next two weeks,” the CDC said Saturday evening. Redfield feels fine and has no symptoms, the statement said.

Just a few hours earlier, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed that FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn had come in contact with someone who tested positive and was in selfquarantine for the next two weeks. He tested negative for the virus.

Both men were scheduled to testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday, along with infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, also a task force member. Sen. Lamar Alexander, the chair of the panel, said the White House will allow the two men to testify by videoconference, a one-time exception to the administration’s policies on hearing testimony.

Vice-President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. White

House officials had confirmed Thursday that a member of the military serving as one of Trump’s valets had tested positive on Wednesday. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide as spokesperson Katie Miller, said he was “not worried” about the virus spreading in the White House. Nonetheless, officials said they were stepping up safety protocols for the complex.

Miller had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president and had tested negative a day earlier. She is married to Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser. The White House had no immediate comment on whether Stephen Miller had been tested or if he was still working in the White House. The CDC and FDA would not disclose the identity of the person who had tested positive and with whom the agency leaders had come in contact.

Redfield sought to use the exposure as a teachable moment. The CDC statement said if he must go to the White House to fulfil any responsibilities as part of the coronavirus task force, he will follow CDC practices for critical infrastructure workers. Those guidelines call for Redfield and anyone working on the task force to have their temperature taken and screened for symptoms each day, wear a face covering and distance themselves from others.

Trump has resisted wearing a mask, and in a meeting with the country’s top military leaders Saturday evening, he did not wear a mask during the brief portion that reporters were allowed to view. The generals around Trump did not wear masks, but participants did sit a few feet away from each other.