Ivanka Trump worked from home on Friday as a precaution, the White House said, after meeting with an Australian official who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The White House stressed that Trump, the president’s daughter and a senior adviser, was not exhibiting any symptoms of the disease and said she did not need to self-quarantine. But the precaution comes after she met with Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton last week — who later tested positive for the virus.
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“The White House is aware that Mr. Dutton tested positive for COVID-19. He was asymptomatic during the interaction. Exposures from the case were assessed and the White House Medical Unit confirmed, in accordance with CDC guidance, that Ivanka is exhibiting no symptoms and does not need to self-quarantine,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
“She worked from home today out of an abundance of caution until guidance was given,” he said.
A Department of Justice spokeswoman said that Attorney General William Barr, who also met Dutton, was “feeling great and not showing any symptoms.”
“He is staying home today and has consulted with CDC. CDC is not recommending he be tested at this point,” spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said.
The move comes amid conflicting reports over whether Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who came into contact with President Trump at the weekend, tested positive.
Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo initially told Fox News that they were doing further testing to confirm the diagnosis. But minutes later, he told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” that the test came back negative.
“Everything’s good now,” he said.
Bolsonaro had been tested after one of his deputies, who also attended meetings at Mar-a-Lago with the president and vice president, tested positive for COVID-19.
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders later called on the president to get tested and release the results.
The president, at this point, has not been tested for coronavirus, even after having met with individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 or interacted with others who have.
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Earlier this week, several Republican lawmakers went into self-quarantine, after an attendee of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 26 to Feb. 29 notified CPAC organizers that he had tested positive.
Both Trump and Vice President Pence, who has been appointed to lead the official Coronavirus Task Force, attended and spoke at CPAC. Neither came in contact with the ill individual, according to the White House.
Trump, though, had direct contact with Rep. Doug Collins on a trip last Friday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, and Rep. Matt Gaetz traveled on Air Force One on Monday. Both self-quarantined.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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