WASHINGTON: Top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci is among three members of the coronavirus task force at the White House who will isolate themselves after possible pathogen exposure, US media announced on Saturday.
Comments on Friday that the press secretary of Vice President Mike Pence had tested positive heightened concerns about the virus targeting senior officials in administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chairman, Robert Redfield, and the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Stephen Hahn, will separate themselves, CNN reported.
Yet Fauci — who has become the trusted face of the government’s response to the virus — assured the network that he would be conducting a “modified quarantine” because he was not near to the infectious White House staffer.
At the National Institutes of Health, the head of infectious diseases will stay at home teleworking and wear a mask for two weeks.
He is still being screened daily for coronavirus, and has tested negative for the disease.
Redfield and Hahn are going into quarantine for two weeks after being introduced to a person who has submitted positive statements from the FDA and CDC to US media.
Officials in touch with the task force have not disclosed the identity of the successful COVID-19 participant.
