2020.05.09 14:27
In the latest sign of worry that the coronavirus could be spreading through the senior ranks of the Trump administration, three top public health officials have begun partial or full self-quarantine for two weeks after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Representatives for Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, confirmed the precautions on Saturday. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, confirmed a CNN report that he had begun a “modified quarantine” given what he called a “low risk” contact.
The actions come after the disclosure on Friday that Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the virus. Ms. Miller has attended numerous meetings of the White House’s coronavirus task force, which also includes Dr. Redfield, Dr. Hahn and Dr. Fauci.
Dr. Fauci will telework from home and wear a mask for 14 days, he told CNN, possibly visiting his office at the National Institutes of Health when he will be the only person present. He tested negative for the virus on Friday and plans to be tested daily from now on.
Dr. Redfield also had a “low-risk exposure” with a person at the White House, on May 6, and will be teleworking for the next two weeks, Benjamin Haynes, a C.D.C. spokesman, said in a statement. Dr. Redfield “is feeling fine, and has no symptoms,” he said, adding that if Dr. Redfield needed to visit the White House for official business he would follow C.D.C. safety guidelines for essential workers who may have been exposed to the virus. Those guidelines call for temperature checks, screening for symptoms, masks as well as social distancing.
A spokeswoman for the F.D.A. said that Dr. Hahn had sent a note to his staff on Friday disclosing his contact with a person who had tested positive for Covid-19 and that, in accordance with C.D.C. guidelines, “is now in self-quarantine for the next two weeks.”
“Dr. Hahn immediately took a diagnostic test and tested negative for the virus,” added the spokeswoman, Stephanie Caccomo.
She and Mr. Haynes did not identify the person or people to whom Dr. Redfield and Dr. Hahn had been exposed, although the C.D.C. statement indicated that it was a person “at the White House.” The CNN report confirmed by Dr. Fauci said that his contact of concern was with a White House staff member.
The White House said this week that a military valet to President Trump had also tested positive for the virus.
Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who oversees the Senate’s health committee, said in a statement Saturday that the White House had agreed to give Dr. Hahn and Dr. Redfield a “one-time exception” and allow them to testify by videoconference at a scheduled hearing on Tuesday about how to return safely to work and school.NYTimes 5/9/20
2020.05.09 14:43
2020.05.09 15:02
Finally, Trump seems trapped by the virus thanks to his own fault.
The virus apparently infiltrated the White House easily which didn't prepare any defense against it.
This is incredible!
2020.05.09 23:45
It has been chaotic disaster. - Obama
2020.05.10 09:18
The current White House event may be a blessing for the USA.
I wish, more than what I did on the Kim's death, that Trump and Pence get incapacitated badly
so that the nation can run the business of fighting against the Coronavirus in a non-chaotic manner.
Trump seems to be greatly enjoying and picnicking the press briefing without knowing anything.
He was just busy running his personal campaign for November. That made me sick.
2020.05.10 14:13
(CNN)President Trump's personal valet, the vice president's spokeswoman, Katie Miller, and Ivanka Trump's personal assistant (who has been teleworking for nearly two months) all tested positive for Covid-19, illustrating the manifold threats the pandemic poses to our government. The news raises questions about the legitimacy of the White House's own narrative about its ability to keep Americans safe, while highlighting the potential havoc the coronavirus could wreak on our government and national security.
Sam Vinograd
News that the coronavirus has infiltrated the White House presents a direct threat to the administration's narrative that it is taking the necessary measures to keep the American people safe. Earlier this week, the White House rejected the very guidelines it asked for from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection on how to safely reopen the country because the CDC's 17-page draft was "overly prescriptive."
Instead of relying on experts, the White House is flying blind, putting itself in charge of determining how to keep Americans safe. To make matters worse, the failure to protect the President and Vice President Mike Pence doesn't inspire much confidence that the administration is doing everything possible to protect the rest of us. It also undercuts the President's assertions that it's time to reopen the country because it's clear that new infections are a reality — even in the White House.
More directly, this news threatens the functioning of our government. White House staff regularly work in close quarters in the East and West Wings, and in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. Based on my experience working in a former closet in the West Wing — where I was two feet away from my closest colleagues — social distancing is not an option in the White House unless serious precautions are taken. Maintaining the six feet of distance recommended by the CDC is a luxury that staff just don't have, absent extraordinary measures.
Staff members are also constantly interacting with each other and moving around the White House property to conduct meetings and brief their bosses. To top it off, staff regularly touch the same doorknobs or equipment, including classified and unclassified printers.
Donald Trump's cold, hard political calculation
White House valets, in particular, are often within spitting distance — if not breathing distance — of the President, Vice President, security details, and the President's family. They are expected to be available and by his side, whether it's in the White House or onboard Air Force One. Because they are responsible for the President's personal needs, including serving him meals or helping him get dressed, it's hard to believe Trump when he says he had "very little personal contact" with the infected valet.
Miller would have been in regular contact with the vice president — to brief him ahead of his public events — and with senior members of the National Security Council and the rest of Pence's office to coordinate messaging. Under normal circumstances, very little of this work is done "virtually." Because Miller says she was asymptomatic, we don't know how long she's been contagious and how many people she has come into contact with.
Both Miller and the valet pose a direct threat to the health of the Trump, Pence and so many other members of the White House and supporting personnel. The risks of contagion are very real — and contagion comes with direct costs for our national security. Unchecked community spread within the White House would be a catastrophic event. An incapacitated President or vice president would represent a major vulnerability in our executive branch, as would contagion among staff, who are essential to the functioning of our government. The fact that both the valet and Miller likely had sustained contact with numerous other staffers raises the real risk that personnel critical to undertaking key national security work could be sidelined and unable to do their jobs.
While we all hope that the valet and Miller make speedy recoveries — and that infection is limited — their cases expose the problems with the White House's approach to Covid-19 guidelines.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the White House, which would start contact tracing, has "taken every single precaution to protect the president." But the fact that personnel coming in close proximity to the President, for example, didn't all wear masks before this incident begs the most basic question: Why not? If the fate of our government is at stake, it is hard to imagine why the White House wouldn't take every precaution to follow basic guidelines.
Right now the White House needs to focus on crisis control — namely ensuring that the valet and Miller are treated appropriately and trying to track down anyone else who may be sick and spreading the virus. But the strategic threats that this news presents are ongoing, particularly if the White House does not take immediate steps to change its own measures to keep personnel safe.