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Trump not tested for coronavirus despite contact with exposed lawmakers

Tuesday, 10 March 2020 8:22 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 March 2020 9:48 AM ]

US President Donald Trump speaks about the COVID-19 alongside members of the coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, March 9, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump has not been tested for coronavirus even though several lawmakers with whom he has come into close contact have announced they were self-quarantining over the virus, the White House said.

Two Republican senators, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz announced they would self-quarantine after coming in contact at a conservative political conference last month with an attendee who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Collins shook hands with Trump when the president visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta last week. And Gaetz rode in the presidential limousine before riding on Air Force One with the president on Monday, CNN says. He also spent the weekend at Trump's Mar-a-Lago property.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) chairman Matt Schlapp also said he had interacted with the attendee who tested positive for coronavirus at the same event where he shook hands with President Trump.

"The President has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms. President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said.

Republican senator Ted Cruz and representatives Paul Gosar and Mark Meadows, who were also at CPAC in Maryland and were in contact with the individual who tested positive, have been self-quarantined.

Vice President Mike Pence said Monday he did not know whether Trump had been tested.

Pence, who leads the administration's coronavirus task force, said that he has not been screened, adding that there has been "no recommendation" that he be tested.

As of early Tuesday morning, at least 728 people have been found to be infected with the coronavirus in the United States, with at least 26 deaths.