Three senior officials guiding the US reaction to the coronavirus pandemic were in self-quarantine on Saturday after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for the disease, their agencies and spokesmen said.
Dr Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, is considered to be at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure, according to a representative for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Dr Fauci, 79, director of that institute, has tested negative for Covid-19 and he'll continue to be tested regularly, the official said.
Dr Robert Redfield, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "will be teleworking for the next two weeks" after a "low-risk exposure" last Wednesday to a person at the White House who has the disease, the CDC said.
Dr Redfield, 68, is "feeling fine" and has no symptoms, it added.
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Stephen Hahn is also in self-quarantine for a couple of weeks after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the illness, an FDA spokesman said late last Friday.
Dr Hahn, 60, immediately took a diagnostic test for the coronavirus and the results were negative, FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum said. "(Dr Hahn) recently came into contact with an individual who has tested positive for Covid-19. Per CDC guidelines, he is now in self-quarantine for the next two weeks."
a news outlet reported that Dr Hahn had come into contact with Mrs Katie Miller, US Vice-President Mike Pence's press secretary.
Mrs Miller, the wife of one of US President Donald Trump's senior advisers, tested positive last Friday, raising alarm about the potential spread of the virus within the White House's innermost circle.
She is married to White House immigration adviser and speech writer Stephen Miller. A valet for Mr Pence has also tested positive.
Dr Fauci, Dr Redfield and Dr Hahn were all scheduled to testify tomorrow to a Senate committee looking at steps that states and the federal government are taking to reopen businesses and schools after coronavirus shutdowns.
REUTERS