Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who has been serving on the White House coronavirus task force, told multiple media outlets over the weekend that he will go into a “modified” self-quarantine.
The decision to self-quarantine comes after two White House staffers, an unidentified valet to President Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, both tested positive for coronavirus late last week. Miller is the wife of White House adviser Stephen Miller.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fauci says his reasoning for doing a modified self-quarantine is that he had a “low-risk” contact with the White House staff member who tested positive.
In that regard, he will mostly work from home, and would wear a mask and take necessary precautions if he is requested to go to the White House or Capitol Hill, Fauci told CNN. He is expected to testify this week in person at a Senate hearing on the coronavirus.
Fauci says tested negative for the virus on Friday.
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Stephen Hahn, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, and Robert Redfield, who serves as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will also self-quarantine after possibly be exposed to someone who has the virus.
Redfield and Hahn will testify by video conference, the committee’s chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander, said on Saturday.
Additionally, the White House sent out an email to all staff on Friday titled, “Strong Precautions We Are Taking,” about the measures being taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 there in the wake of Miller’s positive test, an official said.
The note discusses maintaining maximum telework for staff, reporting travel and monitoring one’s own symptoms, according to a copy obtained by CNN.
The memo also states that “high-touch points” in the White House and Eisenhower Executive Office Building, an office building near the White House where many staffers work, will receive “heightened levels of cleaning.”
Last Thursday, White House staff reportedly received another memo, telling them that they would be asked about their symptoms and would have their temperatures checked before being allowed to enter the White House complex. Any person who acknowledges having symptoms may be pulled for further screening or may be denied entry.
Neither memo addresses face masks.