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US President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed concerns about the possible spread of the coronavirus in the White House, but said he is evaluating limiting contact with Vice President Mike Pence .

During a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, in which the president was not wearing a mask but all reporters were, Trump suggested that Pence was in quarantine after his press secretary tested positive for Covid-19. , although he did not say it directly.

Katie Miller , the spokeswoman for Pence, who heads the White House workforce to deal with the pandemic, tested positive for coronavirus last week.

Since then, three members of the task force have been quarantined: infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci ; the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield ; and Stephen Hahn , chief of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A Pence spokesman denied over the weekend that the vice president was also quarantined. But on Monday Trump hinted that he was when asked if he was considering distancing himself from Pence.

"I would say he and I will talk about it," Trump said. "During this quarantine period, we will probably talk," he added, noting: "I have not seen him since."

"We can talk on the phone," he said. "He tested negative ... but he is in contact with many people."

"No vulnerability"

Trump tried to minimize any concerns about a virus outbreak in the West Wing, where the Oval Office where the President works is located.

"We want to keep our country running so we have a lot of people in and out (of the White House) and many of those people, most of those people, are screened," he said.

"Everyone who enters the president's office is tested and I have not felt any vulnerability," he said.

Trump, who wants to revive the economy before the November elections, in which he is seeking reelection, said that the United States was making "tremendous advances" in the amount of tests, and assured that the number of infections "is falling very quickly" .

"People want our country to be on the move," he said, indicating that reopening is essential and that "some states could move faster."

"People also die with confinement," he said.

Trump abruptly ended the press conference after an exchange with the CBS News correspondent, who asked him why while Americans were still dying he insisted on making the fight against the pandemic a "global competition" in which the United States was doing better. than other countries when it comes to testing.

"Well, they are losing their lives in all parts of the world," Trump replied. "And maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, okay?" .

Journalist Weijia Jiang , who is Chinese-American, replied, "Sir, why are you saying that specifically to me?"

"I say it. I tell anyone who asks an unpleasant question like that," Trump replied before leaving the podium.

"Fear of going to work"

Although it may seem spacious in movies and television shows, the West Wing is not very large , making it difficult to distance socially. It houses not only the office of the President, but also those of some of his closest advisers, the press room and the desks of the White House correspondents, who work side by side.

Kevin Hassett , the president's economic adviser, told CBS over the weekend that "it's scary to go to work." "I'd be safer sitting at home than in the West Wing, which with all the evidence in the world and the best medical equipment on Earth, is a pretty crowded place," he told another network, CNN.

In a memo issued Monday, the White House instructed all personnel to wear face masks within the West Wing, except at their desks.

Unlike other world leaders, Trump, 73, never appeared with face masks in public. He said Monday that Americans "have learned about face masks." "The good and the bad, by the way," he said, without specifying more.

The United States is the country most affected by the new coronavirus in the world , with more than 80,000 deaths and 1.3 million infections.

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