Pence returns to White House
Employees with coronavirus now in isolation
WASHINGTON • Mike Pence, the U.S. vice-president, was back at the White House on Monday after reportedly self-isolating over the weekend after news his press secretary had caught the coronavirus.
Pence did not attend a meeting with Donald Trump and senior military officials on Saturday, according to Bloomberg News, after Katie Miller tested positive for COVID-19.
However, the vice-president was seen walking into the White House without a mask Monday after a spokesman confirmed he had tested negative. The White House is battling to limit exposure among staff after two employees caught the virus, forcing some senior figures into isolation.
Last week, it emerged that Miller, Pence’s press secretary; and a valet for Trump had coronavirus, leading to a scramble to work out who had been in contact with them.
Three senior coronavirus task force figures are now in some form of self-isolation: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert; Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Miller is married to Stephen Miller, the Trump adviser closely associated with the president’s hardline policies on immigration.
He is now reportedly staying away from the White House.
The Trump administration has no plans to keep Trump and Pence apart, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Both men are being tested daily for the virus.
The White House has also directed staff working in the West Wing, where the daily operations of Trump’s administration are carried out, to wear masks at all times in the building, except when they are at their own desks.
Devin O’Malley, Pence’s spokesman, said Sunday that the vice-president was not in “quarantine,” adding that he “has tested negative every single day” for coronavirus.
Other figures in the Trump administration and Congress were self-isolating after potential contact with the virus. Two members of the joint chiefs of staff, America’s military leaders, did not attend the Saturday meeting with Trump due to virus fears.