Trump administration begins contact tracing after 8 people test positive for coronavirus

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — With at least eight members of the Trump administration now testing positive for COVID-19, in addition to several Republican lawmakers and politicians, the White House says it has started contact tracing, although limited information on how it’s being conducted has been released.

White House physicians confirm President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, but they have not confirmed when they believe the President may have become infected.

Much attention and speculation has focused on a White House event more than a week ago: when President Trump introducing his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. More than 150 people gathered in the Rose Garden, the majority without masks.

Since then at least 13 close contacts of the President — family, administration, staffers or associates — have tested positive for the coronavirus including: press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, former counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, Utah Sen. Mike Lee and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Fast forward to last Thursday when it was announced White House aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for COVID-19; later that night President Trump held a fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey.

On Monday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said, “It is clear that the President and his staff acted recklessly in coming to New Jersey in the first place, knowing that they had been exposed to someone with a confirmed positive test.”

Gov. Murphy adding that the RNC provided a list of more than 200 attendees at two separate events that night. New Jersey officials are asking attendees to be tested starting Tuesday, approximately 5 days after possible exposure.

“We are asking that all attendees self-quarantine for 14 days, especially those who were in close contact with either the president or a member of his staff,” Murphy said.

However, comedian Joe Piscopo who was at the New Jersey event, says he thinks attendees will be OK.

“I want to tell you they were very, very careful and then when the president came out what I saw, we were way, I had to be 50 yards from the Pres, maybe 30 yards from the president,” Piscopo said.

Piscopo said he’s staying positive.

“I think all we care about is that the President cared enough to show up to show his loyalty, his character, his commitment to his friends in Bedminster, New Jersey,” he said. “A lot of his friends were there and he kept his distance from what I saw.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 testing for all close contacts of confirmed or probable coronavirus patients.