US Vice President Mike Pence in self-isolation after aide catches coronavirus



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Vice President Mike Pence reacts to audience members after a roundtable with agriculture and food supply leaders about steps being taken to ensure the food supply remains secure in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Friday, May 8, 2020, in West Des Moines, Iowa. ( AP Photo / Charlie Neibergall)

US Vice President Mike Pence, pictured in Iowa Friday, has reportedly gone into self-isolation after his press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for coronavirus (Picture: AP)

Fears are growing for Donald Trump after US Vice President Mike Pence reportedly went into self-isolation over an aide’s coronavirus diagnosis.

Vice President Pence’s self-isolation broke Sunday, two days after it was revealed his press secretary Katie Millar had contracted Covid-19. He is believed to be staying home as a precaution, and most-recently tested negative for coronavirus on Sunday, according to Bloomberg News.

White House spokesman Devin O’Malley told Bloomberg the Vice President would return to the White House on Monday.

He said: ‘Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine. Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow. ’

Picture of Katie Miller

Pence reportedly went into isolation after his press secretary Katie Miller, pictured, tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday (Picture: AP)

Pence stayed away from a key meeting with President Trump on Saturday, and is now at his home at the US Naval Observatory of Washington. He flew to Iowa on Friday to meet State Governor Kim Reynolds, with Reynolds also said to be considering self-isolating over fears she may have been exposed to Covid-19.

That trip was delayed by an hour amid news of Miller’s diagnosis, after six members of Vice President Pence’s team had to disembark his Air Force Two jet over fears they may have been infected with Covid-19.

Press Secretary Miller is the main spokesman for the White House coronavirus task force, with White House immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci, 79, also now in self-isolation as a precaution.

News of Miller’s diagnosis came two days after a valet who works closely with President Trump and his family tested positive for coronavirus. That unnamed valet – an elite member of the US Navy – tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday after they began coughing.

News of two White House coronavirus cases have increased fears for President Trump, who is now having a daily Covid-19 test as a result (Picture: AP)

President Trump is said to have been ‘upset’ by news of the valet’s diagnosis. That saw the White House begin daily coronavirus tests for President Trump, Vice President Pence and other senior members of the current administration in a bid to stop the virus spreading further.

A fortnight ago, Vice President Pence was roundly criticized after paying a visit to a coronavirus facility at the famous Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis, Minnesota, without a face mask. The Vice President toured the facility with staff members in masks, and also met Covid-19 patients who had donned the facial coverings.

Last month, Donald Trump himself urged Americans to begin wearing face-masks in a bid to try and curb the spread of the illness, which is so-far known to have infected over 1.3million Americans, and killed over 80,000.

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