Dr. Anthony Fauci is among other top health officials who will be testifying before a Senate committee via teleconference this week.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) wrote in a statement on Sunday, “After consulting with Dr. Fauci, and in an abundance of caution for our witnesses, senators, and the staff, all four Administration witnesses will appear by videoconference due to these unusual circumstances.”
Along with Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Fauci, CDC director Robert Redfield, FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn, and coronavirus testing coordinator Brett Giroir will testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday.
They will testify on the federal government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. This comes shortly after the White House blocked members like Fauci from testifying to Congress in May, as they called it “counter-productive.”
Alexander is going into self-quarantine after one of his staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.
Fauci is among other officials who also went into self-quarantine on Saturday due to possibly coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, as IJR reported.
A spokesperson at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said, however, that Fauci is at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure. He has also tested negative for the coronavirus. Fauci called his self-isolation a “modified quarantine.”
Additionally, Redfield is going into self-quarantine for two weeks following a “low-risk exposure” to a person who has the virus. Hahn is also self-quarantining for the next two weeks.
This comes after Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for the coronavirus. One of President Donald Trump’s personal valet also tested positive last week.
Pence is not planning to self-quarantine and plans to continue work at the White House on Monday.
The White House said on Thursday that both Trump and Pence will now be tested daily for the virus instead of weekly.