Vice President Taking Increased Precautions After Coronavirus Close Calls: Will Avoid White House
Vice President Pence avoided in-person meetings through the weekend and chose to not work out of the White House, according to an administration official familiar with the Veep’s office, this change in routine was brought forth after his top spokesperson, Katie Miller, along with other staffers like a personal valet to the President, tested positive for Covid-19.
An official statement was made by the same official mentioned above, clarifying that Pence had in fact tested negative for the coronavirus when he was tested on Sunday.
“Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine,” Devin O’Malley, a Pence spokesman, said to the press in a statement on Sunday evening. “Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow.”
So far, two White House staffers — one of President Donald Trump’s military valets, who serves him meals and drinks, and Katie Miller, Pence’s press secretary — have tested positive for the virus, it into Trump’s inner circle, confirming the presence of the disease in the crowded halls of the West Wing, prompting questions about how if the White House itself isn’t safe then how can any other workplace across America be ready to re-open.
On a Sunday news show, senior adviser Kevin Hassett called the White House a “scary” place to go to work right now, given the recent diagnoses and the threat of the virus. The two infections coming in as the president has been consistently nudging and not-so-subtly encouraging that governors and states reopen their economies as quickly as possible, despite the continuing spread of the disease throughout the U.S. and the official number of Covid-19 fatalities cross over 70,000 in total.