WASHINGTON (CN) — After a second White House employee tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the White House on Friday insisted it is taking precautions to prevent the virus from spreading in the building.
"I can just tell you that we've taken every single precaution to protect the president," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters. "The same guidelines that our experts have put in place. We clean the facility, we social distance, we keep people 6 feet away from one another.”
She continued, “So we've done every single thing that Dr. [Deborah] Birx and Dr. [Anthony] Fauci have asked us to do and I can assure the American people that their commander in chief is protected."
On Friday, news broke that a staffer for Vice President Mike Pence tested positive for the virus, one day after the White House confirmed a valet for President Donald Trump had also tested positive.
Trump later indicated to reporters that the staffer is Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Pence. Multiple outlets then confirmed that Miller, who is married to Trump adviser Stephen Miller, had tested positive.
"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. "She hasn't come into contact with me. Spent some time with the vice president."
Pence said on Thursday that he and Trump will start being tested daily, while Trump said the White House is shifting from weekly to daily tests of people working in the building.
Addressing the cases to reporters on Friday, McEnany said the White House is following the same guidelines that are recommended for businesses with essential employees and undertaking contact tracing efforts.
She said Trump, who did not wear a mask while attending a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, will make a decision about whether he will wear one in the future.
Six people who had been in close contact with Pence’s staffer and were scheduled to fly with the vice president to Iowa on Friday were reportedly removed from Air Force Two just before takeoff.
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