The Trump campaign has reportedly scaled up precautions to protect the president after several campaign staffers tested positive for the coronavirus, multiple campaign officials told CNN.
The president has held two indoor campaign rallies in Arizona and Oklahoma in the past week, a move that goes against guidance from public health officials. Attendees at both the Arizona and Oklahoma events were required to agree that they would not sue the hosts if they contracted the coronavirus.
Campaign officials told CNN that although the president does not wear a mask in public, he has voiced increasing concern about contracting the coronavirus and has insisted on upping precautionary measures in the White House and at campaign events.
Every venue he enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams. Bathrooms he uses at these venues are reportedly scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives.
Members of the staff also keep a list of who the president is making contact with, CNN reported.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond about CNN’s reporting in an inquiry from The Hill.
Hours before the Tulsa, Okla., rally, six Trump campaign staffers setting up for the event tested positive for the virus. In another round of testing after the rally, two more tested positive.
A White House senior economic official who was recently in the president’s vicinity also tested positive for COVID-19, according to the news outlet. White House staffers, such as Vice President Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller, tested positive for the disease in the past.
Pence indicated Saturday that the campaign was postponing events in Florida after the state broke its own record for new daily cases of COVID-19 three days in a row. Pence will still be visiting the state to meet with public health officials.
The Trump campaign has continued to push for events, seeking to galvanize its base ahead of the November election.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has polled higher than Trump in a number of key swing states.