WHY HASN’T TRUMP FOLLOWED QUARANTINE RULES FOR HIMSELF AFTER EXPOSURE TO COVID-19?

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: President Trump, at today’s Coronavirus press conference, shakes hands with Target’s CEO as Vice President Mike Pence stands beside him, despite president being closely exposed to three people infected with COVID-19

March 13, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – Despite close exposure to at least three individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, President Donald Trump has not followed health guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control, which advise exposed individuals to self-quarantine for 14 days and keep at least six feet away from others.  Yet at a press conference today, the President was photographed shaking hands with at least seven people.

One, Bruce Greenstein of the home healthcare provider LHC Group, refused to shake hands with the President and offered an elbow instead.

The President was exposed at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he was photographed standing next to a Brazilian press aide who was soon after diagnosed with COVID-19.  He also flew aboard Air Force one with a Congressman exposed to COVID-19 and shook hands with another Congressman exposed at the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) conference that both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended.

Trump, when questioned by media on the matter, said he is “not concerned” and has not been tested, adding, “I don’t have any of the symptoms.”

But the World Health Organization and CDC caution that patients can be contagious for days before showing any symptoms.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Disease, made clear on CNN that anyone who has been standing next to someone diagnosed with COVID-19 should be self-isolating and seeking testing (though a lack of test kits has made testing unavailable to many ordinary Americans who have now shown symptoms of respiratory distress.)

CNN Editor Chris Cilizza, who interviewed Dr. Fauci, calls Trump’s refusal to isolate himself “deeply irresponsible,” adding, “Leaders need to model the behavior -- even if it is uncomfortable -- that they need from the public. Leaders need to be the best of us.

At the moment, Trump is not doing that. He's doing the opposite. Given his documented exposure, it is absolutely reckless for him to continue his current, normal behavior without getting tested. On a daily basis, he is meeting with high-level officials across the government without knowing whether he is infecting them.”