White House physician Dr. Deborah Birx is sharing just how important it is to practice social distancing amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. During Monday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, Birx revealed she had to made the difficult decision not to treat her sick granddaughter over the weekend out of concern for the health of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. As of Monday, there had been at least 365,525 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., the most of any country, with at least 10,925 people having died of the illness.
Birx, who is the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House, explained that her parents also live in the same home as her daughter and 10-month-old granddaughter, who over the weekend ran a 105-degree fever. “We need to take care of each other now as Americans. And I know they’re tough,” Birx said Monday, as per The Washington Post. “My grandchild of 10 months had a fever of 105 this weekend. I’m a doctor, and I couldn’t get there. So I’m trying to explain to my daughter how to listen to her lungs.”
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After Trump asked Birx to confirm she was unable to get to the house, he responded, “Good, I’m very happy about that.” Birx then chuckled and told the president and vice president, “I did not go there, because of you two. I mean, you can’t take that kind of risk with leaders of the country.”
As for how her granddaughter is doing, Birx said she was “sure” the baby had simply contracted a common roseola infection, not COVID-19. “Babies can do that, but it’s very scary, so it was just a few sleepless nights for me,” she added. “I’m sure it’s roseola.”
Trump announced during last Thursday’s press briefing that he had taken a second coronavirus test, which came back negative again. “I did take a test that just came out. … I went to work. I did not wait for it, but it took 14 minutes or something to come up with the conclusion. … So that is the second one. I think I took it really out of curiosity to see how quickly it worked and fast it worked,” Trump said. “And it’s a lot easier. I’ve done them both. And the second one is much more pleasant.”
