White House Recruits CDC For Contract Tracing As Its Outbreak Spreads
Two CDC epidemiologists are now working with the White House to identify and contact people who could have been exposed to the coronavirus while on the complex. And another military official joins the ranks of government officials testing positive.
The Washington Post:
White House Now Has Two CDC Epidemiologists Helping With Contact Tracing
A week after a cluster of coronavirus cases emerged following a White House event, the Trump administration is now working on a limited basis with the federal government’s elite cadre of disease detectives to control further spread. Two epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting the White House in tracking down people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, CDC spokesman Jason McDonald said Thursday. One epidemiologist has been detailed to the White House since March and the second arrived recently. (Sun, Abutaleb and Dawsey, 10/8)
The Washington Post:
Senior Marine Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Second High-Ranking Uniformed Official This Week
A senior military official who was quarantining following interaction with another uniformed leader who contracted covid-19 has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Marine Corps said on Wednesday. Gen. Gary Thomas, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, received the positive test a day after he began quarantining, the service said in a statement. “In accordance with established Marine Corps COVID policies, General Thomas will continue to quarantine at home. He is experiencing mild symptoms, but otherwise is feeling well,” the statement said. Thomas is the second senior uniformed official whose covid-19 diagnosis was announced this week, following news that Adm. Charles Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, tested positive on Monday. (Ryan, 10/7)
USA Today:
Here's Everyone At The White House Rose Garden SCOTUS Event Now Called A Likely 'Superspreader.' Help Us ID Them All.
USA TODAY is attempting to identify every person at the event using publicly available photographs of that day. If you know of someone who is not on our list, please fill out this form. (10/9)
The Hill:
DC-Area Health Officials Urge COVID-19 Testing For Anyone At White House Event
Health officials in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia are urging people connected with a recent White House Rose Garden event to contact their local health departments and get tested for COVID-19. In a joint health advisory published Thursday, the officials said "limited contact tracing" has made it difficult to find out the full scale of the White House coronavirus outbreak. (Weixel, 10/8)
The Guardian:
Activists At Amy Coney Barrett Super-Spreader Event Launch US Bus Tour
Two conservative activists who were at the White House’s Rose Garden event to announce the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court – now believed to be a super-spreader of the coronavirus – have launched a nationwide bus tour to promote the judge. The tour, led by a group called Concerned Women for America, has so far included stops in Georgia and South Carolina in which participants can be seen in close quarters and without wearing face masks. (Kirchgaessner, 10/8)
