The move comes after President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and top Trump aide Hope Hicks all tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Effective October 2, 2020, all National Security Council (NSC) staff reporting to the Executive Office of the President campus are required to wear a mask in all common areas, including security screening facilities, elevators, hallways and restrooms,” the email states.
“In addition, masks are required where social distancing guidelines cannot be consistently observed which may include personal workspaces and conference rooms,” the email continues. “Unless your duties require in-person business in the West Wing we respectfully ask you to avoid unnecessary visits.”
The email includes tips for minimizing the risk of exposure for employees and their families and friends. While noting that “the NSC is no longer in a maximum telework status,” the email highlights that “it is at the Senior Directors discretion whether or not team members should be placed into telework status.”
The increased precautions come as some are raising questions about the administration’s handling of the situation after Hicks confirmed that she had tested positive.
CNN reported earlier Friday that a small group of White House officials knew by Thursday morning that Hicks had contracted Covid-19, and Trump still took a trip to New Jersey for a fundraiser, and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany still held a news briefing at the White House on Thursday. McEnany didn’t wear a mask at the briefing, and made no mention of Hicks’ diagnosis to reporters in the room.
Trump announced his positive diagnosis on Twitter shortly before 1 a.m. Friday. McEnany said Friday that White House operations had deemed the New Jersey trip safe.
The NSC has already had its own significant brush with the virus. In July, Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, tested positive for Covid-19, according to an official familiar with what happened.
He experienced “mild symptoms” and worked “from a secure location off site,” according to an unnamed statement to the press from the White House confirming his test results at the time. O’Brien returned to work at the White House in early August after a period of self-isolation.
