{UAH} The chicken are now finally home: White House Races to Contain Virus in Its Ranks: ‘It Is Scary to Go to Work’

With two White House staff members testing positive, some officials fear the disease is already spreading rapidly through the West Wing.

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Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, has tested positive for the coronavirus.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

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By Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman

• Published May 10, 2020Updated May 11, 2020, 6:01 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is racing to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus inside the White House, as some senior officials believe that the disease is already spreading rapidly through the warren of cramped offices that make up the three floors of the West Wing.

Three top officials leading the government's coronavirus response have begun two weeks of self-quarantine after two members of the White House staff — one of President Trump's personal valets and Katie Miller, the spokeswoman for Vice President Mike Pence — tested positive. But others who came into contact with Ms. Miller and the valet are continuing to report to work at the White House.

"It is scary to go to work," Kevin Hassett, a top economic adviser to the president, said on CBS's "Face the Nation" program on Sunday. Mr. Hassett said he wore a mask at times at the White House, but conceded that "I think that I'd be a lot safer if I was sitting at home than I would be going to the West Wing."

He added: "It's a small, crowded place. It's, you know, it's a little bit risky. But you have to do it because you have to serve your country."

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The discovery of the two infected employees has prompted the White House to ramp up its procedures to combat the virus, asking more staff members to work from home, increasing usage of masks and more rigorously screening people who enter the complex.

It is not clear how many other White House officials Ms. Miller or the valet might have come into contact with in recent days, but many members of the West Wing staff who were most likely in meetings with Ms. Miller before she tested positive are still coming to work, according to senior administration officials.

Late Sunday, the White House put out a statement saying that Mr. Pence would not alter his routine or self-quarantine. The vice president "has tested negative every single day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow," said Devin O'Malley, a spokesman for Mr. Pence.

The concern about an outbreak of the virus at the White House — and the swift testing and contact tracing being done to contain it — underscores the broader challenge for Americans as Mr. Trump urges them to begin returning to their workplaces despite warnings from public health officials that the virus continues to ravage communities across the country.

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Most restaurants, offices and retail stores do not have the ability to regularly test all their employees and quickly track down and quarantine the contacts of anyone who gets infected. At the White House, all employees are being tested at least weekly, officials said, and a handful of top aides who regularly interact with the president are being tested daily.

Allan

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