Military Member Working at White House Tests Positive for CCP Virus

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump exit the Oval Office as they arrive to participate in a tree planting ceremony in recognition of Earth Day and Arbor Day on the South Lawn of the White House on April 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A member of the U.S. military who works on the White House campus has tested positive for the CCP virus.

Hogan Gidley, a spokesman, said Thursday that officials were recently notified by the White House Medical Unit about the test results.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence “have since tested negative for the virus and they remain in great health,” he added in a statement.

The White House told The Epoch Times last month that anyone who will be near Trump or Pence would be tested to see if they had COVID-19, the new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

“As the physician to the president and White House Operations continue to protect the health and safety of the president and vice president, starting today anyone who is expected to be in close proximity to either of them will be administered a COVID-19 test,” spokesman Judd Deere said.

The test will “evaluate for pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers status to limit inadvertent transmission,” he added.

A significant percentage of people infected with the virus never show symptoms. They and people not yet showing symptoms can transmit the illness, according to health experts.

Trump and Pence have largely declined to wear masks while in and around the White House and traveling to other areas. After Pence didn’t wear a mask during a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, he said he should have. Pence donned a covering while visiting a ventilator production facility in Indiana last week.

Trump didn’t appear publicly with a mask while in Arizona this week but told reporters later that he was wearing one when he was “far away from” photographers.

He said he wore it for a short while before taking it off.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month reversed its recommendations surrounding masks, saying people should wear them if in areas where social distancing is hard to maintain.