UPDATE: According to a statement from Vice President Pence’s spokesman Devin O’Malley, Pence is not self-isolating or in quarantine after aides tested positive for the coronavirus. “Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine,” said O’Malley. “Additionally, Vice President Pence has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow.”
Original story continues below.
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Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly self-isolating from the White House after his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday. Pence did not attend a meeting on Saturday with military officials and President Donald Trump. Other top officials have begun self-quarantining as well, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force.
Three sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News that Pence is staying at his home in the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. as a precautionary measure. Pence and Trump are both regularly tested for the coronavirus and Pence tested negative for the virus on Sunday. Miller is also the main spokeswoman for the White House coronavirus task force, which last met on Thursday and is led by Pence.
Pence visited Iowa on Friday and spent time with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Although they practiced social distancing during their meetings during the trip, Reynolds spent time with Miller when she visited the White House on Wednesday, so sources told Bloomberg she is considering self-isolating as well. When in Iowa, Pence and Reynolds did not wear masks while meeting with executives from the food industry.
Early last week, a military member who works at the White House as a valet for Trump tested positive. On Friday morning, a member of Pence’s staff tested positive and Trump revealed it was Miller during his meeting with Republican members of Congress. Miller is married to Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisers.
“She’s a wonderful young woman, Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time,” the president said. “And then all of the sudden today she tested positive. She hasn’t come into contact with me. She’s spent some time with the vice president.”
“This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great,” Trump continued. “The tests are perfect, but something can happen between a test where it’s good and then something happens and all of the sudden. She was tested very recently and tested negative, and then today I guess for some reason she tested positive. So Mike knows about it and Mike has done what he has to do. I think he is on an airplane, going to some far away place, but you’ll be able to ask him later on. But they’ve taken all of the necessary precautions. I understand Mike has been tested, vice president, and he tested negative.”
On Saturday, three officials who serve on the coronavirus task force said they would start quarantining. Fauci announced he will start “modified quarantine” after he had a “low risk” contact with a staffer who rested positive. Dr. Stephen Hahn, the FDA Commissioner, and CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield will go into full quarantine. All three are scheduled to testify before a Senate committee this week, and Redfield and Hahn will appear via video conferencing.
