Following reports that yet another White House staffer has tested positive for COVID-19, and several campaign staff ordered to quarantine after getting infected with the virus at his campaign rally in Tulsa last week, President Donald Trump is demanding that White House aides adopt extreme measures to protect him from being infected while he downplays the health crisis to the public.
One major concern to the president is how it would look if he came down sick during a time when he is falling behind presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the polls and has insisted protections be ramped around him, CNN reports.
“As he seeks to insert rival Joe Biden’s health into the presidential campaign, Trump has voiced escalating concern about how it would appear if he contracted coronavirus and has insisted on steps to protect himself, even as he refuses to wear a mask in public and agitates for large campaign rallies where the virus could spread,” CNN writes.
With Trump refusing to wear a mask in public, while at the same time insisting that he be allowed to hold rallies despite health officials warnings, aides to the president are being forced to take find ways to protect the president.
According to CNN, “Every venue the President enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams, according to people familiar with the arrangements. Bathrooms designated for the President’s use are scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives. Staff maintain a close accounting of who will come into contact with the President to ensure they receive tests.”
Additionally, White House staff are subjected to constant monitoring, including temperature checks.
The report also notes that the president has taken himself out of the loop on the government’s attempts to halt the once-again increasing spread of the deadly virus.
“Though Trump regularly phones Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for updates on the outbreak, he rarely speaks to the other members of the task force. While testifying on Capitol Hill this week, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refused to say when he had last talked to Trump,” CNN reports. “And the US Food and Drug Administration commissioner and other top aides conceded it had been weeks since they had last spoken with him.”
Read the entire report on CNN.
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