EPA administrator to quarantine following Covid-19 exposure
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement Wednesday that he has been exposed to Covid-19 and will quarantine until he’s “gone through the proper testing protocols.”
Wheeler said he is quarantining after consulting with his doctor and “out of an abundance of caution” following a secondary exposure. The statement didn’t say how or where Wheeler was exposed.
“I look forward to carrying out agency business as usual,” he added.
Wheeler was supposed to attend on Thursday the opening of an exhibit at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library celebrating Nixon’s environmental achievements, but he said in the statement he will now attend virtually.
The pandemic has had a notable effect on the Trump administration, with several officials either being exposed to the virus or having tested positive in recent months. John Barsa, the acting head of the US Agency for International Development, tested positive for coronavirus last week, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson tested positive for coronavirus early last month.
Their diagnoses joined a list of coronavirus cases within the Trump administration and President Donald Trump’s circle in recent weeks as the pandemic continues to surge nationwide.
News broke last month that Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani was exposed to another person who had tested positive for Covid-19.
One of Trump’s campaign advisers, Boris Epshteyn, said November 25 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and was experiencing mild symptoms. Epshteyn appeared with Giuliani at a campaign legal team news conference in Washington, DC, six days earlier. A day after the news conference, Giuliani’s son, Andrew, announced that he had tested positive. On the same day that his son announced his positive test, the former New York City mayor said he would be isolating at a Washington-area hotel.
A growing number of lawmakers from both parties and chambers of Congress have also announced they’ve tested positive.
Rep. Rick Allen, a Republican from Georgia, and Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat from Nevada, announced separately last week that they had contracted the virus.
