Mike Pence staffer tests positive for coronavirus, had no 'close contact' with Trump – White House

A member of US Vice President Mike Pence’s staff has tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House has confirmed, but said that neither Pence nor President Donald Trump were exposed.

“This evening we were notified that a member of the Office of the Vice President tested positive for the coronavirus,” Pence’s spokeswoman Katie Miller told reporters on Friday evening, adding: “Neither President [Donald] Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual.”

Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines

Trump put Pence in charge of the administration’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak at the end of February, and both have stood close to each other during daily press briefings at the White House all this week.

This is at least the third time there has been a scare about the possibility that Pence, 60, or Trump, 73, might have been exposed to the virus that can be lethal for the elderly. Previously, they had both been in contact with members of Congress who had attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month, where one prominent donor from New York tested positive. 

Last week, a staffer for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro also tested positive for the coronavirus, after he had taken pictures with Trump at his Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago during a working visit to the US. Bolsonaro himself has vocally denied reports that he might have been infected himself.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!