White House staff now ordered to wear face masks in West Wing

White House staff have been ordered to wear a mask or facial covering to enter the West Wing, as Donald Trump confronts cases of the coronavirus at the heart of his administration.

Two known cases of Covid-19 among employees in one of the most-protected complexes in America have sent three of the nation’s top medical experts into quarantine and vice-president Mike Pence into self-isolation.

The scare comes with the White House this week emphasising to the American people the steps being taken to assure their safety – in hopes that will coax them to resume normal activities.

“This week – you’ll hear the @WhiteHouse talk about preparedness & confidence,” tweeted Alyssa Farah, the White House director of strategic communications.

“The Trump Admin is working around the clock to build our testing capacity, grow our PPE stockpiles, distribute therapeutics, & get to states to SAFELY reopen in a way Americans can have CONFIDENCE in.”

That message was undercut by the exposure of senior government officials to positive cases at the White House itself and new protective measures implemented to keep the president safe.

Staff will be allowed to remove face coverings if they sit at least 6ft apart from colleagues. Mr Trump himself is still not expected to wear a mask.

Mr Pence on Monday led the White House’s weekly call with governors from an isolated room after his press secretary tested positive on Friday.