Email To White House Staffers: ‘Please Stay Home’ If You Have Symptoms
In other Trump administration news, HHS Secretary Alex Azar has ordered a review of the $300 million pandemic ad campaign that's been drawing scrutiny. Azar also tried to bat away worries from lawmakers over political influence on the COVID-19 vaccine approval process.
The Hill:
White House Staffers Get Email Saying To Stay Home If They Experience Coronavirus Symptoms
White House staffers were urged in an email Sunday to "please stay home" and "do not come to work" if they have exhibited any symptoms of the coronavirus. An all-staff email obtained by New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi directed members of the White House staff to "immediately contact your primary care provider" and "inform their supervisors" in the event of symptoms being presented. (Bowden, 10/4)
The New York Times:
At The White House, An Eerie Quiet And Frustration With The Chief Of Staff
In a memo to his senior staff on Friday morning, Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, encouraged everyone to stay away from their offices in the Old Executive Office Building while contact tracing was going on. On Saturday, he held an all-staff conference call to discuss what the coming weeks would look like while President Trump remained under treatment for the coronavirus, and later reiterated the message that staff members were to work from home. At the Trump campaign headquarters in Virginia, Bill Stepien, the campaign manager who tested positive for the virus himself, instructed staff members to “wear a mask, wash your hands, socially distance, check in via the LiveSafe app on a daily basis and work from home if you’re not feeling well.” (Karni, 10/4)
In other news from the Trump administration —
Politico:
Azar Says HHS Reviewing $300M Pandemic Ad Campaign Amid Scrutiny
HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Friday said he’s ordering a review of a $300 million-plus ad campaign aimed at boosting confidence in the Trump administration's coronavirus response, one day after Democratic lawmakers expanded their probe into the taxpayer-funded effort. “I have ordered a strategic review of this public health education campaign that will be led by top public health and communications experts to determine whether the campaign serves important public health purposes,” Azar testified before the House panel investigating the federal government’s coronavirus response. (Ehley and Roubein, 10/2)
FierceHealthcare:
Azar Pushes Back On Congressional Concerns Of Political Interference In COVID-19 Vaccine Approval
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar tried to allay concerns from lawmakers this week that political influence might taint the approval process for a COVID-19 vaccine. “The vaccine approval process will be determined by career officials over at [Food and Drug Administration],” Azar said. Azar was speaking Friday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis after multiple media reports of HHS political appointees seeking to interfere with the response to the pandemic. (King, 10/2)
AP:
Pence Ordered Borders Closed After CDC Experts Refused
Vice President Mike Pence in March directed the nation’s top disease control agency to use its emergency powers to effectively seal the U.S. borders, overruling the agency’s scientists who said there was no evidence the action would slow the coronavirus, according to two former health officials. The action has so far caused nearly 150,000 children and adults to be expelled from the country. The top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doctor who oversees these types of orders had refused to comply with a Trump administration directive saying there was no valid public health reason to issue it, according to three people with direct knowledge of the doctor’s refusal. (Dearen and Burke, 10/3)
