Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House Forgoes Contact Tracing Of Attendees At Rose Garden Ceremony
Despite almost daily disclosures of new coronavirus infections among President Trump鈥檚 close associates, the White House is making little effort to investigate the scope and source of its outbreak. The White House has decided not to trace the contacts of guests and staff members at the Rose Garden celebration 10 days ago for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, where at least eight people, including the president, may have become infected, according to a White House official familiar with the plans. (Mandavilli and Tully, 10/5)
The White House hasn鈥檛 called on the nation鈥檚 top disease detectives to investigate a Covid-19 outbreak involving the president and several staff, though a team has been mobilized specifically for that work, according to people familiar with the matter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has readied a team of investigators but hasn鈥檛 been asked by the White House to help track down related infections since President Trump announced early Friday he and the first lady tested positive for the new coronavirus, these people said. A federal official said the CDC has been on standby. (McKay, Ballhaus and Abbott, 10/5)
The evangelical pastor of a high-profile California megachurch with links to President Trump announced Monday he's among those who have contracted Covid-19 following the recent White House event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Pastor Greg Laurie of Riverside's Harvest Christian Fellowship confirmed on his Facebook page that he tested positive for the virus over the weekend. (Marinucci, 10/5)
Here鈥檚 who has tested positive thus far, the day we learned about their result and what we know about their condition. (Niedzwiadek, 10/5)
In related news 鈥
President Donald Trump鈥檚 press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, on Monday revealed she was the latest top official in the White House鈥檚 Covid-19 cluster to test positive for the coronavirus. She said in a statement that she 鈥渨ill begin the quarantine process.鈥 But if McEnany had been following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, she would have quarantined days ago 鈥 when she found out she was a close contact for Hope Hicks, an aide to Trump who had already tested positive. McEnany isn鈥檛 the only person in the federal government setting a poor example, with Republican policymakers ranging from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to Attorney General Bill Barr to Vice President Mike Pence saying they won鈥檛 quarantine despite potential close contact with at least one person who tested positive for the coronavirus. They鈥檝e pointed to their lack of symptoms or negative tests, defying the CDC鈥檚 guidelines to quarantine or self-isolate regardless. (Lopez, 10/6)
The number of positive COVID-19 tests out of the White House are now starting to pile up. More than a dozen that President Trump has been around in the past week or so have now tested positive for COVID-19, including another notable name on Monday: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. ... McEnany met with reporters indoors last week and then spoke with reporters on Sunday. Sunday鈥檚 quick briefing was outside, but she removed her mask to speak. And several journalists who cover the White House have tested positive. (Jones, 10/6)
Elected leaders in the Washington region are urging the White House to follow pandemic safety protocols to slow the coronavirus鈥檚 spread, even as they said the Trump administration hasn鈥檛 consulted with them over the growing outbreak. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said her administration has offered help to the White House but otherwise has had little contact with federal leaders. In Montgomery County, where President Trump was recovering for three nights after contracting the virus, the top elected official urged the president to act responsibly. (Nirappil, Chason and Hedgpeth, 10/5)