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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Monday ordered everyone entering the west wing, where the daily operations of the President Donald Trump administration are conducted, to wear masks after two aides tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said of the administration.
The new guidelines, released in a memorandum to the president’s staff on Monday afternoon, reflect a tightening of procedures at the highest levels of the US government. USA For fear that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence may be exposed to the virus.
Trump’s military valet and Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus last week.
The 73-year-old president said Monday he did not believe those cases suggested that the White House system had broken down.
“I didn’t feel any vulnerability,” Trump said, adding that he felt the situation was under control “very well.”
Still, the president said he would discuss keeping some distance from Pence, perhaps by contacting him by phone, for a period of time. Pence worked at the White House on Monday, but did not attend a press conference held in the Rose Garden. Officials in attendance wore masks and speakers used a different podium than the one used by Trump.
ABC News first reported on the memo, which also said unnecessary visits from other parts of the White House complex to the West Wing area, which includes the Oval Office and workspace for senior advisers, are discouraged.
Officials working near the president have undergone coronavirus screening, but previously did not wear masks on a regular basis.
“Common sense has finally prevailed,” a senior administration official told Reuters.
Trump has balked at wearing a mask himself and hasn’t put it on in public, though he said he tried some backstage during a visit to a mask factory in Arizona last week.
On Saturday he met with the top leaders of the US Army. The US, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and members of its national security team in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Officials were not wearing masks, but had been screened in advance for the virus, a Pentagon spokesman said, adding that the social distancing measures appeared to have been met. Secret Service agents in the room wore masks.
The president is in the age group considered to be at high risk for complications from the coronavirus, which has killed more than 80,000 people in the United States alone and devastated countries and economies worldwide.
Staff members, including Jared Kushner, the chief adviser and son-in-law of the president, wore masks on the White House grounds on Monday.
The White House said last week that it was stepping up precautions for people who spend time near Trump and Pence, who have resumed their trips outside of Washington. The two men are being examined daily for the virus.
“In addition to social distancing, daily temperature and symptom history checks, hand sanitizer, and periodic deep cleaning of all workspaces, each staff member close to the President and Vice President is being screened daily for COVID-19, as well as any other guests, “White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.
After Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller tested positive for the virus last week, Trump was asked if people in the west wing would start wearing masks. He replied that people were already doing it. But he and his guests weren’t wearing masks that day, and the west wing staff weren’t wearing them either.
Miller is married to Stephen Miller, a White House aide and speechwriter for the President.
Some who had contact with Katie Miller went into partial quarantine. An administration official said Pence worked from the White House on Monday, but that he would keep his distance from the president in the immediate future, in consultation with the White House medical unit.
“We can talk on the phone,” said Trump.
(Reports by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; additional reports by Lisa Lambert, Diane Bartz, and Phil Stewart; Rosalba O’Brien edition)
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