CDC director self-quarantining after exposure to person at the White House, VP Pence returns to work
While Vice President Mike Pence is not planning to enter self-quarantine after his press secretary tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, the director of the CDC is taking the opposite approach after coming in contact with someone who tested positive.
According to CNN, Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will self-quarantine for two weeks after he was exposed to a person at the White House who tested positive for Covid-19, a CDC spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
In sharp contrast to Dr. Redfield's reaction, Vice President Pence's office says he plans to be at the White House on Monday.
Pence spokesperson Devin O'Malley said the vice president "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," O'Malley said in the statement Sunday.
The announcement comes as the White House continues to urge governors to begin reopening their states even as the virus has edged closer to the West Wing with news that top members of the coronavirus task force will self-quarantine, in some form, after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus.
An official said there is extreme sensitivity inside the White House at the current state of affairs with officials recognizing the contradiction in telling states to reopen while the White House enhances protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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The official said Pence's schedule will probably be on the lighter side in the coming days, but that he's not doing a full self-quarantine.
Those steps come after President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the virus. The President said that Miller has not come into contact with him but noted that she has been in contact with Pence.
"She's a wonderful young woman, Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive," Trump said during a meeting with Republican members of Congress at the White House.