President Donald Trump has not been tested for coronavirus, the White House said Monday, despite indirect contact through at least two lawmakers.
White House officials announced late Monday that the president had not been tested after a series of encounters with lawmakers who had contact with others who had tested positive for the virus. Top among those was Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who announced he was placing himself in quarantine less than an hour after getting off Air Force One.
“The president has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. “President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him.”
During a briefing at the White House on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said he didn’t know whether or not the president was tested. Pence said he was not tested.
“I’ve had no recommendation that I will be tested,” Pence said.
“The White House physicians, their directive is to see to the health and well-being of the president of the United States.”
Though there is zero indication the president has been exposed to the virus there have been several circumstances in which it has come close to him. Gaetz said Monday that he had come into contact with a person who tested positive at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland late last month. He flew with Trump aboard Air Force One from Florida back to Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Days before Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., announced he had placed himself in quarantine, he was seen meeting with Trump at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, shaking the president’s hands on the tarmac before the visit.
Both Collins and Gaetz said they had no symptoms.
A self-acknowledged germophobe who is said to frequently slather his hands with sanitizer, Trump recently told Fox News there is no way to politely avoid shaking hands.
“You can’t be a politician and not shake hands,” Trump said at the town hall in Scranton, Pa., on Thursday. “The bottom line is, I shake anybody’s hand now. I’m proud of it.”
Source: usatoday.com