White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said that President Donald Trump has not been tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
“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. President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him,” she said in a statement released late Monday.
“Per
current CDC guidelines, medical professionals should base testing decisions on patient symptoms and exposure history,” Grisham added.
Some lawmakers this week announced they are undergoing self-quarantine after having been in contact with a person who later tested positive for the virus.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Reps.
Doug Collins (R-Ga.),
Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.),
Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) have said they are undergoing self-quarantine after having attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland in February, where they interacted with a person at the event who later tested positive for the virus. The self-quarantines are to end when 14 days have passed since the encounter with the attendee.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were among those who attended CPAC. Organizers of CPAC
said that an attendee tested positive for the virus at a hospital in New Jersey, and was put under self-quarantine. The organizers noted that “[t]his attendee had no interaction with the President or the Vice President and never attended the events in the main hall.”
Another member of Congress, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.),
said on Monday that she and her staff would work remotely after she found out that she had interacted with a person in Washington, D.C. who tested positive for the virus.
The novel virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease COVID-19 emerged in early December 2019 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a city of about 11 million people. The virus is in the same family of pathogens that cause the flu and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing, although Chinese researchers have noted other symptoms, such as fatigue, diarrhea, chest pains, and headaches.
Trump announced a
coronavirus task force on Jan. 29 to monitor and combat the virus. The task force has been meeting daily. Trump later on Jan. 31
declared a public health emergency in the United States just a day after the World Health Organization decided to declare the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The Trump administration also suspended travel from China to the United States.
