No plans to separate Trump and Pence despite White House coronavirus cases – source



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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration has no plans to keep President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence separate, a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday, as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus within the White House mount. .

The New York Times first reported the lack of plans to keep Trump and Pence separate despite concern that they may both be disabled by the disease, citing two senior administration officials.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Two cases of coronavirus at the White House last week raised fears of contagion for the President and Vice President, who are leading the US response. USA A pandemic, and that business and travel schedules have resumed even as the death toll from the virus approaches 80,000.

Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus a day after confirmation that Trump’s personal valet had been diagnosed with the disease.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany sought on Friday to defend the administration’s efforts to protect Trump and Pence, noting new steps taken by the White House, including seeking contacts and implementing all recommended guidelines. for essential workers.

The White House has also instituted daily coronavirus testing for Trump and Pence.

Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration of the EE. The US, Stephen Hahn, was quarantined Saturday after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the disease.

If Republicans Trump and Pence were incapacitated, Speaker of the Democratic House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi would assume presidential duties under US law.

Last month, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson entered an intensive care unit after becoming the first leader of a major power to announce that he had tested positive for the highly contagious respiratory virus. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab replaced Johnson during his convalescence.

(Report by Alexandra Alper; Edition by Peter Cooney)



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