The White House has said the vice-president, Mike Pence, plans to maintain an aggressive campaign schedule this week despite several members of his inner circle, including his chief of staff, testing positive for coronavirus.
A spokesman for Pence disclosed late on Saturday that Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, had tested positive for the virus. Pence and his wife, Karen, tested negative earlier in the day and the vice-president will not alter his schedule, the spokesman said. The New York Times reported that several other members of his inner circle had also tested positive in recent days.
Short’s diagnosis comes weeks after Covid-19 spread through the White House, infecting President Donald Trump, the first lady and two dozen other aides, staffers and allies.
Under criteria from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vice-president is considered a “close contact” of his chief of staff but will not quarantine, said a spokesman, Devin O’Malley.
O’Malley said Pence decided to maintain his travel schedule “in consultation with the White House medical unit” and “in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel”. Those guidelines require that essential workers exposed to someone with the coronavirus closely monitor for symptoms of Covid-19 and wear a mask whenever around other people
Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease expert at George Mason University, called Pence’s decision to travel “grossly negligent” regardless of the stated justification that Pence is an essential worker.
“It’s just an insult to everybody who has been working in public health and public health response,” she said. “I also find it really harmful and disrespectful to the people going to the rally” and the people on Pence’s own staff who will accompany him.
“He needs to be staying home 14 days,” she added. “Campaign events are not essential.”
After a day of campaigning in Florida on Saturday, Pence was seen wearing a mask as he returned to Washington onboard Air Force Two shortly after the news of Short’s diagnosis was made public. He is scheduled to hold a rally on Sunday afternoon in Kinston, North Carolina.
President Trump commented on Short early Sunday after his plane landed at Joint Base Andrews, outside Washington. “I did hear about it just now,” he said. “And I think he’s quarantining. Yeah. I did hear about it. He’s going to be fine. But he’s quarantining.”
Pence, who has headed the White House coronavirus taskforce since late February, has repeatedly found himself in an uncomfortable position balancing political concerns with the administration’s handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 Americans. The vice-president has advocated mask-wearing and social distancing, but often does not wear one himself and holds large political events where many people do not wear face-coverings.
By virtue of his position as vice-president, Pence is considered an essential worker. The White House did not address how Pence’s political activities amounted to essential work.
Short, Pence’s most senior aide and one of his closest confidants, did not travel with the vice-president on Saturday.
Pence’s handling of his exposure to a confirmed positive case stands in contrast to how the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, responded when a close aide and a member of her campaign plane’s charter crew tested positive for the virus earlier this month. She took several days off the campaign trail citing her desire to act out of an abundance of caution.
source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/25/coronavirus-mike-pence-continues-campaign-tour-despite-chief-of-staffs-positive-test
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