White House Visitors Warned To Be Tested For COVID-19

WASHINGTON, DC — Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, the director of the D.C. Department of Health, joined health leaders from nine area jurisdictions calling on recent visitors to the White House to get tested for COVID-19 and contact their local health departments about the potential need to quarantine. The warning included people who may have attended President Trump's Supreme Court announcement ceremony in the Rose Garden on Sept. 26.

"Given the growing numbers of positive COVID cases reported from staff working in and near the White House, people who attended the event hosted by the White House on Saturday, September 26, 2020, and our preliminary understanding that there has been limited contact tracing performed to date, there may be other staff and residents at risk for exposure to COVID positive individuals," the 10 health officials said, in a letter released Thursday.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump announced last Friday they had tested positive for COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus. Later in the day, the president traveled to Walter Reed Hospital for treatment, but he returned to the White House on Monday.

Since then, several White House staffers and attendees at the Rose Garden ceremony, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have tested positive for COVID-19.

"In an effort to better understand the potential impact of persons who tested positive attending those events, and the scope of individuals who may have been exposed, we recommend that if you have worked in the White House in the past two weeks, attended the Supreme Court announcement in the Rose Garden on Saturday, September 26, 2020, and/or have had close contact with others who work in those spaces or attended those events, you should get a test for COVID," the health officials said, in their letter. "Please contact your local health department for further guidance/questions regarding your potential need to quarantine."

The letter went on to say that even if an individual has received a negative test result, the time for them to quarantine would not shortened.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 14-day quarantine period from date of exposure," the letter said. "We strongly encourage everyone to continue following these practices to stay well, including wearing face coverings, physically distancing at a minimum of six feet between you and others, practicing hand washing and other sanitizing practices."

In addition to Nesbitt, the letter was signed by health officials from Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles counties in Maryland; the City of Alexandria; and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties in Virginia.