Two other senior aides in coronavirus task force also in quarantine
as fallout deepens over positive tests among White House staff
The White House is stepping up precautions to try to stem the spread
of Covid-19 in the West Wing after Dr Anthony Fauci, the US government’s
top infectious diseases official, and two other senior leaders in the
fight against Covid-19 began self-quarantining on Sunday, following
positive tests for the virus among staff.
News that three core members of the US pandemic task force were having to go into some degree of self-isolation
could not come at a worse time for Donald Trump. The president is
trying to project an image of confidence and resolution as he encourages
states to reopen their economies, while his administration is proving
unable to keep the virus at bay even within the White House.Fauci, 79, a calming face of the Trump administration’s otherwise chaotic pandemic response, has begun what is being described as “modified quarantine”, involving some work from home, after he had “low risk” contact with a White House staffer who tested positive.
He is joined by Dr Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, and Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who have both gone into two weeks of isolation.
Fauci will still testify before a Senate committee next week but he will do so remotely.
"An absolute chaotic disaster"
The scramble to protect Trump from potential infection was prompted after two White House staffers tested positive. They included a US Navy officer who served as valet for the president, and the press spokeswoman for vice-president Mike Pence, Katie Miller, who is married to senior policy aide Stephen Miller.
The positive tests are reported to have caused alarm within the White House, given the cramped conditions in which officials work. The New York Times cited a senior official as saying Trump himself was “spooked” to learn that the valet, who on occasion serves him food, had not been wearing a mask.
Senior officials took to the Sunday talk shows to try to counter the impression of internal shambles around the president.
Larry Kudlow, the White House national economic council director, told ABC’s This Week the two positive tests were insignificant.
“In terms of the White House complex, which is an enormous place, at least 500 people, probably much more than that … those who have tested positive is still a small fraction,” he said.
Kevin Hassett, a special adviser to Trump on the pandemic, told CNN’s State of the Union extra precautions were being taken. Nobody was being allowed to have an audience with Trump, he emphasized, unless they had tested negative.
“The West Wing, even with all the testing in the world and the best medical team on Earth, is a relatively cramped place,” he said. “There are things that have to happen in that West Wing even though the building is a little old and poorly ventilated.”
The crop of infections in the White House poses the administration a problem not only in terms of keeping the president safe. It also provides an inconvenient framing to Trump’s efforts to come across as upbeat in the face of the contagion.
He has been encouraging states to reopen their economies, even though in many cases they are ill-prepared for the health challenges of doing so at a time when the virus is still on the rise. Trump has tried to appear in control by pointedly refusing to wear a mask in White House meetings, and even touring a mask-making factory in Arizona last week without carrying any protective gear.
The Associated Press reported that Trump chose not to wear a mask because it would “send the wrong message” and impact his re-election chances.
The latest data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the US now has more than 1.3m confirmed cases of Covid-19, almost a third of the global tally. There have been 78,855 recorded deaths in the US, although the real figure is likely to be considerably higher.
Trump is having to deal with further bad optics about his pandemic response, thanks to his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Trump lashed back in a tweet on Sunday morning, claiming to be getting “great marks” for the handling of coronavirus.
He went on: “Compare that to the Obama/Sleepy Joe disaster known as H1N1 Swine Flu. Poor marks, bad polls – didn’t have a clue!”
Kudlow also hit back. He told ABC that “with all due respect to the former president … I really don’t want to get into a political back-and-forth here … I don’t know what he’s talking about”.
He added: “I don’t understand what President Obama is saying. It just sounds so darn political to me.”
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