Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Republican State Senator Learns He Has COVID At Meeting With Trump
AP: Pa. Lawmaker Gets A Positive Test At Trump Meeting
A Pennsylvania state senator abruptly left a West Wing meeting with President Donald Trump after being informed he had tested positive for the coronavirus, a person with direct knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press on Sunday. Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano had gone to the White House last Wednesday with like-minded Republican state lawmakers shortly after a four-hour-plus public meeting that Mastriano helped host in Gettysburg — maskless — to discuss efforts to overturn president-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state. (Scolforo, 11/29)
The Hill: Pa. Lawmaker Was Informed Of Positive Coronavirus Test While Meeting With Trump: Report
A Republican lawmaker from Pennsylvania abruptly left a White House meeting with President Trump after he was informed that he had tested positive for COVID-19, The Associated Press reported Sunday. Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) was informed during the Wednesday meeting with Trump about the president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results that he had tested positive for the virus and was led away by White House medical staff, one source at the meeting told the AP. (Bowden, 11/29)
In other Trump administration news —
Politico: Surgeon General Makes Plea: Wearing A Mask ‘Will Protect My Mother’
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams made clear on Sunday that mask-wearing is personal to him. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Adams cited his hospitalized mother as a reason Americans should start wearing masks to curb coronavirus case counts that have skyrocketed in recent weeks and placed a severe strain on the nation’s hospitals. (Semones, 11/29)
The Hill: White House Testing Czar Promotes Mask Wearing, Social Distancing: 'Testing Alone Will Never Solve This Issue'
White House testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir promoted mask wearing and social distancing on Sunday, saying that “testing alone will never solve this issue.” Giroir told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the U.S. is “doing everything we can” to improve COVID-19 testing as the number of coronavirus hospitalizations and cases surge across the nation amid the Thanksgiving holiday. “Unless we can control the viral spread, by doing the things like wearing a mask, avoiding indoor crowded spaces, you cannot test your way out of this,” he said. (Coleman, 11/29)
