Trump returns to the White House and poses without a mask 1:45
(CNN) -
The White House told its staff in an email Tuesday that it had completed "all contact tracing" for the positive COVID-19 cases identified there, and urged those who have not contacted and suspect they have been in close contact with someone infected with coronavirus who contacts the White House Medical Office.
The email, reviewed by CNN, was sent to staff who work throughout the White House complex.
The message comes following revelations of new infections that include President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, as well as many of the White House's top aides.
The west wing had been reluctant to enforce such regulations among staff, particularly with regard to masks, for fear of undermining the president's efforts to show that his administration has the pandemic under control.
The US failed to advance its average daily covid-19 cases last month and officials fear an impending crisis
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But after several of the president's top aides - including Hope Hicks, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and senior adviser Stephen Miller - tested positive in recent days, as well as other mid-level staff, the White House it has been forced to take hasty measures to prevent the spread from getting even worse.
However, The New York Times White House correspondent and CNN contributor Michael Shear, who tested positive for the virus after direct interaction with White House officials, told CNN Tuesday night that the White House has not made an approach to trace contacts or track their condition.
At least one other White House official told CNN that they also alerted officials that they had had direct contact with positive White House personnel and received no guidance on how to proceed.
The officials and advisers Trump has lost 1:05
New guidelines at the White House
The email also featured new guidelines regarding wearing masks, mandatory random testing of employees, quarantine and work for those with symptoms of Covid-19.
On the contract tracing, the email said that "the White House medical unit, with the help of the CDC, has completed all contact tracing for positive covid-19 cases that have been identified at the White House. .
He defined close contact "as contact within two meters of distance for more than 15 minutes within 48 hours of symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test."
On the use of masks, the email states: “We continue to encourage staff to wear a mask or face covers, especially when social distancing is not an option.
As a reminder, we require that everyone entering the West Wing wear a mask or face covering.
The medical unit supplies masks to those who need them.
And the masks are also available "at every entrance to the west wing," the email notes.
Mandatory random covid-19 tests are also run for all employees who work in the Executive Office of the President, known as the EOP.
"Failure to appear for the test will be considered a refusal to take the test", indicates the email, and it is specified that personnel who have been working remotely for the last 30 days, planning to do so in the next 14 days, can get postponements of the test, travel status or previously approved license.
Conditions for return to the White House
The email outlined new guidance for returning to the White House after quarantine, saying that if someone 'has tested positive for COVID-19, is quarantined due to close contact, or self-isolates due to symptoms, they MUST be cleared. by the White House Medical Unit before returning to the EOP campus.
Personnel who have complied with the quarantine requirements (10 days after covid diagnosis / 14 days for close contacts) will be authorized to return to work after receiving a negative covid-19 test.
Any member of the White House staff who experiences symptoms of Covid-19, such as a sore throat, cough, fever, headache, new loss of taste or smell, muscle aches, chills, diarrhea, or difficulty breathing, is She asked "please stay home and not come to work until you are free of any symptoms."
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