Three White House reporters have tested positive for COVID-19 Friday following President Trump’s announcement that he and first lady Melania have contracted the virus.
All three journalists were in the White House over the last week; the building’s medical unit is conducting contact tracing for each of them, according to the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Several more reporters are quarantining out of an abundance of caution as they await test results, the association said, without identifying the journalists who have fallen ill.
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WHCA President Zeke Miller in a letter to White House journalists urged reporters to steer clear of the White House unless they are a part of a press pool or have an enclosed workspace.
Reporters should be especially vigilant of their health if they’ve attended President Trump’s Rose Garden event Saturday for his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett or any other events over that weekend, Miller added.
Five in attendance at the Saturday event, including two Republican senators, have since tested positive for the virus.
“Due to cases linked to the pools last weekend and a large number of press credentialed for the 9/26 Rose Garden event, we ask that if you were on the White House grounds or in the pools those days, that you pay extra attention to any changes in your health,” Miller said.
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The White House has plans to test all reporters who travelled on Air Force One over the last week, Miller added, recommending other potentially exposed journalists to get tested as well.
“For seven months, we have been clear-eyed about the inherent risks in fulfilling our obligation to keeping the American public informed,” Miller went on.
“Today those risks are more evident than ever, but our work is only growing more vital.”
NY Post
