WASHINGTON — President Trump mentioned on Thursday that the White Home workers can be examined on daily basis for the coronavirus after a army aide
WASHINGTON — President Trump mentioned on Thursday that the White Home workers can be examined on daily basis for the coronavirus after a army aide who has had contact with him was discovered to have the virus.
Requested by reporters concerning the aide, Mr. Trump downplayed the matter. “I’ve had little or no contact, private contact, with this gentleman,” he mentioned. However he added that he and different officers and workers members on the White Home can be examined extra ceaselessly.
A White Home spokesman mentioned that Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had each examined destructive for the virus since their publicity to the army aide and had been “in nice well being.” However the episode raised new questions on how well-protected Mr. Trump and different prime officers are as they work on the White Home, sometimes with out sporting masks.
Judd Deere, the deputy White House press secretary, said in a statement that Mr. Trump’s physician and the White House’s operations team takes “every precaution” to protect the president, his family and the White House complex.
“In addition to social distancing, daily temperature checks and symptom histories, hand sanitizer, and regular deep cleaning of all work spaces, every staff member in close proximity to the president and vice president is being tested daily for Covid-19 as well as any guests,” Mr. Deere said.
Mr. Trump has said that the White House uses a test kit made by Abbott, which can return results on the spot in as little as five minutes. But health professionals have warned that the Abbott test kit produces less reliable results than those shipped to labs but which can take days. And even as he announced the increased frequency of the tests, the president appeared to cast doubt on their value.
”It just shows you the fallacy — what I’ve been saying, testing is not a perfect art,” he said. “No matter what you do, testing is not a perfect art.”
It was unclear what he meant. If anything, the White House’s shift to more frequent testing validates the view of public health experts that exponentially more testing is needed nationwide to contain the virus’s spread.
Before departing for a trip to Arizona on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he was unconcerned about the health risks of traveling because the people joining him, including members of his Secret Service detail, had been tested in the past hour. “We have great testing,” he said.
The president has not been seeing wearing a mask, and few top White House officials do so. Asked about the practice, which public health experts strongly recommend, Mr. Trump insisted that “a lot of people in the White House wear masks,” adding, “I see it all the time.”
As part of the celebration, the veterans will have their pictures taken at the White House with the secretaries of defense and state as well as the first lady, Melania Trump, and the president, according to a schedule prepared by the Greatest Generations Foundation, which organized the event.
The schedule says the men, who range in age from 96 to 100, will be tested before they enter the White House grounds. The group is then expected to ride in the president’s motorcade to the memorial for the ceremony At least one family member worries that the event will endanger the men at a time when the virus is still spreading in Washington.
“I think it’s very irresponsible to have the last remaining World War II veterans travel across the country to take a photograph during a global pandemic,” said Alex Melikian, the granddaughter of Sgt. Gregory Melikian, 97, one of the men who will be meeting the president.
“People over the age of 80 have the highest chance of passing away from this. If he gets it, this could be the end,” she said of her grandfather, who was a radio operator who worked for General Dwight D. Eisenhower during the war. “I know it’s his choice to go, but it’s irresponsible to even have an event like this in the first place.”
Administration officials said the foundation had contacted the White House several weeks ago about participating in any celebration Mr. Trump held to mark the victory over German forces in Europe. The foundation chose the veterans who are taking part in the event, officials said, adding that the White House was taking precautions to keep the veterans, the president and others safe.
“Leave it to the media to question eight brave war heroes for joining the president of the United States at the nation’s World War II Memorial on the 75th anniversary of V-E Day,” Mr. Deere said.
“As young men, these heroes stared evil in the eyes,” he said. “No pandemic will stop them from joining their commander in chief for this momentous occasion.”
Timothy Davis, the president of the foundation, said he reached out to the White House after the group’s original trip to mark the anniversary, to Moscow, was canceled because of the pandemic. He said he was happy when he received the president’s invitation.
“We know we are going to be losing them quickly over the coming years,” he said of the remaining World War II veterans.
Mr. Davis said he respected the concerns of people like Ms. Melikian. But he said the veterans understood and accepted the risk. “This is their wish. They know they don’t have much time left. Their voices, their stories need to be told,” he said. “They were adamant they wanted to do this.”
Ms. Melikian said she was still concerned that her grandfather might not survive if he fell ill, and that he could carry the virus home to Arizona. “When he comes back, he could pass it along to my grandma,” she said. “He shouldn’t be leaving his house. ”