White House staff have been ordered to wear masks when entering the West Wing after two aides tested positive for coronavirus.
President Trump appearing without a mask in the Rose Garden for a press briefing on Monday. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
The White House personnel office has said that staff must cover their faces at all times except when seated at their desks, socially distant from colleagues.
The directive comes after an aide for Vice-President Mike Pence and a valet for President Donald Trump fell ill.
Trump said he required the policy.
Appearing without a mask in the Rose Garden for a press briefing on Monday, however, the president claimed he did not need to follow the directive because he kept "far away from everyone", and played down the White House infections.
"We have hundreds of people a day pouring into the White House" each day, he said. "I think we're doing a good job containing it."
Three members of the White House coronavirus task force went into self-isolation for two weeks after possible exposure to the illness.
They include Dr Anthony Fauci, who has become the public face of the fight against the virus in the US.
Pence's press secretary Katie Miller, the wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller, tested positive for the virus on Friday.
Her diagnosis came after a valet for Trump was also confirmed to have the illness.
Trump shrugged off the White House spread, saying it was "basically one person" who had contracted the virus and that people who were in contact had since tested negative.
White House adviser Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, wears a face mask as he departs a press briefing in the White House Rose Garden. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
What else did President Trump say?
Trump said more funds would be made available to increase testing in states.
The government is to provide $11bn to states to meet testing goals this month. States were asked how many tests they hope to conduct in May, and will be given supplies to match the targets.
Senior White House officials who come into regular contact with Trump are currently being tested daily for the coronavirus.
Pressed by journalists on when all Americans could expect to have access to testing, Trump said: "If someone wants to be tested right now they will be able to be tested". The claim is heavily disputed.
What's going on with testing?
For weeks, Trump has sought to encourage an easing of lockdown measures throughout the US, arguing it was time to get back to work amid dire economic news.
However, public health experts have warned that easing restrictions too early could lead to a resurgence of transmissions and a second coronavirus wave.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued guidelines suggesting that lockdowns should not be eased unless a region has seen 14 days of declines in infections and be able to conduct 30 tests for every thousand residents.
According to the CovidTracking Project, a charity, the US conducted an average of 248,000 daily tests in the first week of May.
According to the White House, the number has increased to 300,000 a day, but prominent public health researchers say at least 900,000 daily tests are needed before the US should reopen.
As of this week, the US has tested only 2.75 percent of its 330 million population, and no state has tested 10 percent of residents. In over a dozen states where lockdown measures have been relaxed, including Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, less than 2 percent of residents have been tested.
Last week, the White House rejected the CDC's reopening guidance, but some states are adopting the standards.
- BBC