“As Dr. Hahn wrote in a note to staff today, he recently came into contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19. Per (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, he is now in self-quarantine for the next two weeks. He immediately took a diagnostic test and tested negative for the virus,” FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum said in a statement on Friday.
While the FDA did not name the person with whom Hahn came into contact, President Donald Trump earlier Friday had revealed that Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, had tested positive for Covid-19.
Hahn is a member of the White House coronavirus task force, which held its most recent meeting on Thursday.
An official familiar with the situation inside the White House coronavirus task force told CNN it’s unclear whether some on the panel will go into quarantine and that more will be known about next steps on Saturday.
Miller was the second White House member to test positive for the virus this week after one of Trump’s personal valets tested positive on Thursday.
A senior White House official told CNN on Friday that contact tracing was performed inside the White House after Miller’s positive test. All of the people whom she was in touch with, including her husband, Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, tested negative, the official said.
The White House has begun making sure staffers wear masks in the White House residence and increasing testing and temperature checks throughout the West Wing.
The FDA has been heavily involved with the government’s response to the pandemic, reviewing tests, potential vaccines and treatments and assisting with the medical supply chain.
Hahn had been expected to testify next week at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing on the government’s response to coronavirus.
