Barr reverses, will quarantine for several days after potential coronavirus exposure

Attorney General William Barr reversed his decision to not quarantine following possible exposure to the coronavirus and said instead that he would isolate himself for several days, according to The Associated Press.

Barr was exposed to COVID-19 last week at the White House’s event announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed Barr’s decision to the news outlet, though the exact length of Barr’s self-imposed quarantine was not immediately clear.

Kerri Kupec, the Justice Department’s spokesperson, added that Barr had undergone four tests for COVID-19 exposure since Friday, all of which had returned negative results.

A further request for comment from The Hill was not immediately returned.

Barr told The New York Times through a spokesperson the day earlier that he would not quarantine, a decision that came as the Trump administration and the president’s reelection campaign have faced increasing scrutiny over their preventative measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic following the president’s announcement Friday that he and the first lady had tested positive for the virus.

News outlets have hammered allies of the president over the past two days in response to contradictory statements about the president’s condition. Allies of the president have also faced criticism over the president’s own past unwillingness to appear in public while wearing a mask, as well as the Trump campaign’s lack of preventative measures against the spread of the virus.

Several other attendees at Friday’s event besides Trump himself have since tested positive for the virus, including White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and the president of Notre Dame University, the Rev. John I. Jenkins.