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ON THE TOUR: US Vice President Mike Pence exiting the plane to speak to voters in Kinston, North Carolina, on Sunday. Photo: JONATHAN DRAKE / REUTERS
His own chief of staff is infected and Mike Pence is considered a close contact. The Vice President of the United States continues his campaign tour in the United States.
On Sunday night it emerged that Marc Short, who is the chief of staff of the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, tested positive for the coronavirus. A total of at least five people in the circle around Pence have now been confirmed infected.
The vice president himself tested negative for the virus.
Therefore, his office has stated that Pence will continue as planned before the next presidential election, even though he should be considered as one of Shorts’ close contacts. The reason is that he, as vice president of the United States, is considered an “indispensable staff.”
Background: Vice President Pence’s chief of staff infected with Corona
CDC guidelines from the American Institute of Health state that close contact with infected people must remain at home for 14 days, but that exceptions may be granted for people who fall into this category. These must be closely monitored for symptoms and must wear face masks when interacting with other people.
On Saturday, Pence held election rallies in Florida and on Sunday he spoke in Kinston, North Carolina. On Monday, the trip continues to Minnesota.
Several experts from the AP news agency have come out to criticize the White House for the way they have interpreted the regulation. Running a campaign to be re-elected vice president is not considered a necessary job, they believe.
According to the New York Times, several members of Pence’s campaign apparatus have also said they believe the vice president should change his plans and rather organize digital voter meetings.
– It is an insult to all those who have worked with public health. I also think it is harmful and disrespectful to the people who go to the polls, says Saskia Popescu, who is an infectious disease expert at the AP news agency, adding:
– You must stay home for 14 days. Promotional events are not a must-have job.
The regulations are made to ensure that important functions such as police, healthcare and food transportation can be maintained in a crisis, writes AP.
“Anything that does not have to be done with physical presence and that is not related to his work as vice president will not be considered indispensable,” Joshua Sharfstein of Hopkins University told the news agency.
The contagion surrounding the vice president occurs just over a week before the US presidential election, and at the same time the country is seriously in its second wave of corona contagion.
On October 2, President Donald Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, as several people close to Trump confirmed the infection, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his wife Melania Trump. President Trump has been released in recent weeks.
When Trump was asked on Sunday if Pence should cancel his travel plans, he replied:
– You have to ask him, he does it very well, good crowd, very good distance. He’s doing very well, Trump said according to the AP.
Robert C. O’Brien, Trump’s security adviser, defends the vice president’s travel business.
“Workers who travel, campaign and vote are some of the most essential things we can do as Americans,” he told the New York Times.
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At the same time, Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, admits that the United States will not be able to control the pandemic immediately.
– We are not going to take control of the pandemic, we will check that they give us vaccines and treatments, he said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.
A ceremony in Rosehagen at the White House in late September, in which Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett as the new Justice of the United States Supreme Court, has been described as a mass infection event. At least 16 people have been diagnosed with the post-event infection.
– The White House has very flexible rules when it comes to protecting employees and managers. They have had a major outbreak and it is clear that they did not learn from it, so they will continue, Ashish Jha of the Department of Public Health at Brown University tells the New York Times.
Former vice president and Trump opponent Joe Biden, who is highly critical of the president’s handling of the crown, tells the New York Times that he is not surprised the infection continues to spread in the White House.
– This is a recognition of the strategy that President Donald Trump has had from the beginning; to raise the white flag and hope the virus is gone when ignored. It does not, and will not, says about the statements of Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
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