Dr. Fauci to begin ‘modified quarantine’ after contact with virus-positive White House staffer

WASHINGTON, DC — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, tells CNN he will begin a “modified quarantine” after making a “low risk” contact with the White House staffer who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The “low risk” assessment means he was not in close proximity to the person who tested positive during the time when that person was known to be positive for the virus.

He is not doing a full quarantine like Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will self-quarantine for two weeks after he was exposed to a person at the White House who tested positive for Covid-19, a CDC spokesperson confirmed to CNN.

To air on the side of caution, Fauci said he is doing what he calls a “modified quarantine,” meaning he will stay at home and telework, wearing a mask continually, for 14 days. He said he might also go to his office at the National Institutes of Health where he is the only one there. He also will be tested every day, he said, noting he was tested yesterday and was negative.

If he is called to the White House or Capitol Hill, he will go while taking every precaution, he said.