Mike Pence ‘not a close contact’ of anyone with COVID-19 seven days after meeting with Trump, doctor says

Mike Pence’s physician released a memo ahead of Wednesday night’s debate saying the vice president “is not a close contact with any individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.”

White House physician Jesse Schonau told the vice president’s chief of staff that Pence “has remained healthy, without any COVID-19 symptoms, and has continued to have daily COVID-19 antigen tests an intermittent PCR test which have all resulted as negative.”

The announcement comes a day before Pence and Democrat vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris are scheduled to participate in the Salt Lake City debate. Although the debate will proceed as planned at the University of Utah, the two will be separated by plexiglass barriers as more people in President Trump’s orbit announce that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19.

The memo notes that Pence “was traveling on Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday” and then self-quarantined in his residences from Friday until Sunday. The memo notes that Pence met with Trump on Tuesday but says that he is not a close contact to Trump or “senior members of the White House administration, according to the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say that close contact is any person who has been “within 6 feet of someone who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more.” According to the CDC, “You should stay home for 14 days after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19.”

Pence met with Trump seven days ago. Ten days ago, Pence attended the Rose Garden event, during which Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett. That event has been identified as a superspreader event, and so far, 11 attendees at the event have tested positive for COVID-19, in addition to a number of other people in Trump’s orbit.