Staff visitors are banned from the plane cabin of Vice President Mike Pence, who is now wearing a mask at all times and has abandoned rope lines as his office tries to maintain a busy campaign schedule after several staffers tested positive for COVID-19, according to a senior aide.
Pence addressed supporters in Hibbing, Minnesota, on Monday and is due to appear in North Carolina and South Carolina on Tuesday.
However, some public health experts have accused him of putting others at risk by not quarantining after it emerged over the weekend that a close contact, chief of staff Marc Short, had caught the virus.
“After Marc’s positive test, our team immediately moved to beef up precautions to make the travel more safe for aides, support staff, attendees, and others,” said the senior aide.
The precautions, devised in conjunction with the White House medical unit, mean all events will be held outdoors, preferably in such a way that Air Force Two can pull up directly to the stage so that Pence does not have to use a car to travel to the hangar or speech site.
Interviews with local media have also been suspended. The vice president would often conduct two or more immediately after public events.
The office has slimmed down the number of traveling staff, and they are not allowed into the vice president’s cabin on his plane.
The result is a busy schedule as the campaign reaches its climax. He is due in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan on Wednesday. Followed by Iowa, Nevada, and Arizona before the week is out.
However, in a further concession to the concerns, he did not preside over the Senate session to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Monday evening. Under normal circumstances, he would be expected to attend as part of Republican celebrations.
The outbreak among Pence’s aides marked the latest reminder that the virus is no respecter of rank or status. And it provides ammunition for those who believe the White House has failed to take the disease seriously at both a national level and locally, among its own staff.
The president, first lady, and their son Barron, as well as numerous aides and guests, have contracted COVID-19 in the past month.
President Trump spent three nights in the hospital before making what even critics admitted was a speedy recover for a 74-year-old.
The senior aide said outside Pence adviser Marty Oates tested positive last Tuesday. And three other staffers, besides Short, tested positive after beginning a period of quarantine.
