Coronavirus: It's scary to go to work, says top White House aide

WASHINGTON • The Trump administration is racing to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus inside the White House as some senior officials believe the disease is spreading rapidly through the warren of cramped offices that make up the three floors of the West Wing.

Three top officials leading the government's coronavirus response have begun two weeks of self-quarantine after two members of the White House staff - one of President Donald Trump's personal valets and Ms Katie Miller, Vice-President Mike Pence's spokesman - tested positive for the virus. But others who came into contact with the duo are continuing to report for work.

"It is scary to go to work," Mr Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to Mr Trump, said on CBS' Face the Nation programme on Sunday. He said he wore a mask at times at the White House but conceded that "I think that I'd be a lot safer if I was sitting at home than I would be going to the West Wing".

He added: "It's a small, crowded place. It's, you know, it's a little bit risky. But you have to do it because you have to serve your country."

The discovery of the two infected employees has prompted the White House to ramp up its procedures to combat the coronavirus; it is asking more staff to work from home, raising mask usage and more rigorously screening people who enter the complex.

It is not clear how many other White House officials Ms Miller or the valet might have come into contact with in recent days, but many members of the West Wing staff who were most likely in meetings with Ms Miller before she tested positive are still coming to work, according to senior officials.

Late on Sunday, the White House said in a statement that Mr Pence would not alter his routine or go into self-quarantine. The Vice-President "has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow", said a spokesman for Mr Pence.

The concern about an outbreak of the virus at the White House underscores the broader challenge for Americans as Mr Trump urged them to begin returning to their workplaces despite warnings from public health officials that the virus continues to ravage communities across the country.

Mr Trump has continued to reject guidance from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to wear a mask when meeting groups of people.

But a senior administration official said the President was spooked that his valet, who is among those who serve him food, had not been wearing a mask. And he was annoyed to learn that Ms Miller tested positive, and has been growing irritated with people who get too close to him, the official said.

An assistant to his daughter Ivanka, one of his senior advisers, also tested positive in recent days.

Two senior administration officials said there were no plans to keep Mr Trump and Mr Pence apart because of a concern that they both could be incapacitated by Covid-19.

Concern about the spread of the virus in the White House has put three of the most high-profile members of the coronavirus task force into self-quarantine - Dr Robert Redfield, director of the CDC; Dr Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Mr Stephen Miller, one of the President's closest advisers and Ms Miller's husband, is also not expected to enter the White House in the foreseeable future.

Members of the Secret Service who work at the White House now wear masks regularly.

NYTIMES