CORONAVIRUS

White House Now Conducting Temperature Checks Amid Outbreak

Mar 14, 2020, 10:22 AM | Updated: Jun 23, 2022, 11:21 pm

In response to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump announces that ...

In response to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump announces that he is declaring a national emergency during news conference with National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci (L), Vice President Mike Pence and other members of his coronavirus task force and leaders from the healthcare industry in the Rose Garden at the White House March 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump is facing a national health emergency as COVID-19 cases continue to rise and 30 people have died from the virus in the United States, according to The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House announced Saturday that it is now conducting temperature checks on anyone who is in close contact with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

The move is being taken out of an abundance of caution in response to the coronavirus outbreak, said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.

Trump has had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have tested positive for the pandemic virus. On Friday, he declared a state of emergency as schools and workplaces across the country shuttered, flights were canceled and Americans braced for war against the health threat.

Trump spent time last weekend at his private club in Florida with at least three people who have now tested positive.

The Brazilian Embassy in Washington announced late Friday that the country’s chargé d’affaires, Nestor Forster, tested positive after sitting at Trump’s dinner table. So, too, have a top aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and an individual who attended a fundraiser Sunday with Trump, according to two Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private health matters.

Trump has been known to flout public health advice — and was eagerly shaking hands during an event Friday — but acknowledged he “most likely” will be tested soon. The White House physician has indicated that Trump’s interactions were low risk and testing was not necessary.

A representative from the White House physician’s office took the temperate of members of the media who were at the White House on Saturday, going around to each person and putting the device to their heads.

Public health officials say that individuals with a cough and elevated temperatures of 100.4 degrees or higher are deemed concerning.


Bev Banks contributed to this report.

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White House Now Conducting Temperature Checks Amid Outbreak