WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington, D.C., officials say the White House has rebuffed their offers to assist with contact tracing after President Donald Trump and several others who attended a Rose Garden event to introduce the new Supreme Court nominee tested positive for COVID-19.
Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser says a D.C. health department representative who reached out to the White House “had a very cursory conversation that we don’t consider a substantial contact from the public health side.”
Washington’s local virus regulations don’t apply on federal property, and the White House has hosted multiple gatherings that exceeded the local 50-person limit, and many participants didn’t wear masks.
The Sept. 26 ceremony announcing Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett is now regarded as a potential infection nexus.
The White House says it is doing contact tracing, and “appropriate notifications and recommendations are being made.”
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