US President Donald Trump speaks about COVID-19, known as coronavirus, after signing a Proclamation in honor of National Nurses Day in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, May 6, 2020.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
A personal valet for President Donald Trump has tested postive for the coronavirus, but both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have tested negative for the virus, a spokesman said Thursday.
“We were recently notified by the White House Medical Unit that a member of the United States Military, who works on the White House campus, has tested positive for Coronavirus,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.
“The President and the Vice President have since tested negative for the virus and they remain in great health,” Gidley said.
Pence was en route to visit a health-care facility in Alexandria, Virginia as the news broke. The vice president did not wear a mask during his vist to the facility, which houses some patients with Covid-19.
CNN first reported that the individual who tested positive is personal valet for Trump, which would mean that person had very close contact with the president.
A Defense Department spokesman said, “As with any other service member who tests positive, the individual will quarantine in their residence, and will receive medical care as needed.”
The White House declined to say whether Trump planned to quarantine following news of his aide’s diagnosis.
As of noon Thursday, the president was still planning to meet with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at 2 p.m. Two hours after that, Trump is scheduled to speak at the White House for a National Day of Prayer Service.
CNN reported that the individual who tested positive began displaying symptoms of the virus on Wednesday.
Based on what is currently known about coronavirus, the incubation period between when a person is first exposed and when they exhibit symptoms is, on average, five or six days.
It is unclear how contagious people are during this period. But according to Harvard Medical School’s coronavirus information center, “emerging research suggests that people may actually be most likely to spread the virus to others during the 48 hours before they start to experience symptoms.”
Trump has refused to weak a mask as a precaution against the coronavirus despite federal health guidance that suggests all Americans do so when in public and when unable to maintain a six-foot distance from other people.
Trump did not wear a mask Tuesday while touring the production area of a Honeywell factory in Phoenix, which is manufacturing n95 masks for the Defense Department. Trump said Honeywell officials had told the White House that he did not need to wear a mask, despite signs at the factory reminding workers to wear masks at all times.
According to the White House Historical Society, there are few people who work more closely, physically speaking, with the president and his family than the president’s valet.
A position that dates back to George Washington, every president has had at least one valet who helps him to dress, maintains his clothes and sees to his personal needs within the residence.
“In addition to caring for the presidential clothing, valets were personal assistants, messengers, confidants, nurses, barbers, bartenders, waiters, public relations agents, and companions. Some were considered unofficial members of the first family,” the historical society writes on its page about valets.
There are more than 1.2 million Americans who have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. At least 73,431 people in the United States have died from Covid-19.
– Additional reporting by Amanda Macias
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