The White House announced that anyone expected to be in a room with President Trump or Vice President Pence will be required to take a rapid COVID-19 test.
The test, which the president took on Thursday, takes one minute to administer and delivers results within 15 minutes. Oil executives who met with the president on Friday took the test.
It was Trump’s second since the start of the outbreak. He took his first in March after dining with a Brazilian delegation that included an aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who subsequently tested positive.
The new testing protocol won’t include reporters who attend the daily briefing and sit at a distance from the podium from which the president speaks.
“Starting today, anyone who is expected to be in close proximity to either of them will be administered a COVID-19 test to evaluate for presymptomatic or asymptomatic carrier status to limit inadvertent transmission,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere.
The White House has advised social distancing, including placing more space between seats during events.
Studies suggest that up to half of infected coronavirus cases may be asymptomatic, leading to calls for greater protective measures. The White House began temperature checks for people near to Trump and the vice president in March.
Trump has continued to meet with Republican leaders, business executives, and advisers as his administration formulates a policy to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Last month, White House officials went back and forth to the Capitol, negotiating a package to limit economic fallout from the crisis. Lawmakers are among the confirmed COVID-19 cases on Capitol Hill.
