With Hope Hicks testing positive for coronavirus, everyone at the White House, including President Trump, will be undergoing close monitoring for symptoms of the coronavirus.
CNN is reporting that Hicks has developed symptoms, and MSNBC reports that Hicks tested negative Wednesday morning, but developed symptoms on the plane ride back from the Minnesota rally Wednesday night, quarantining herself on Air Force One.
This is not the first time someone from the White House has tested positive. One of Trump’s personal valets at the White House tested positive, as did Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary.
However, neither of them had as close contact with Trump as Hicks routinely does. Hicks rode on Marine One yesterday afternoon with Trump and other White House senior staff members including Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino. While protocol calls for mask wearing on the helicopter, masks are not complete protection for transmitting the virus.
Additionally, Hicks was on Air Force One on the way to the first presidential debate, as well as backstage before the event. Most staffers are reported to wear masks on the plane, and Trump family members and GOP leaders such as Jim Jordan who attended the debate refused to wear masks.
It is not clear the danger a Hicks infection poses to people who were not in direct contact with her during the debate, so the risk to Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden or his wife, Jill, is unknown.
Trump attended a fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club earlier today. While no video of the event is available, Trump famously does not enforce social distancing or masking rules at his events or at his golf clubs.
The test used by the White House, an Abbott Pharmaceuticals “ID Now” rapid results test, has a documented 30-50% false negative test, according to MSNBC expert, the University of Washington’s Dr. Vin Gupta, citing NYU research. Regardless of the results of that test, more accurate tests would be required over the next 72 hours from potential exposure to ensure a person was not exposed.