Mark Bergin
Mike Pence’s press secretary is clarifying the vice president did not meet or come into contact with a Florida student who is under quarantine for potential exposure to coronavirus.
The quarantine comes after Pence visited Sarasota Military Academy on Friday.
“Can we all take a deep breath? @Mike_Pence did not meet or come into contact at all with this student,” Pence Press Secretary Katie Miller tweeted.
Can we all take a deep breath? @Mike_Pence did not meet or come into contact at all with this student. https://t.co/uLzvnVcoS4
— Katie Miller (@VPPressSec) March 3, 2020
A mother and son from the military academy have been quarantined “as a precautionary measure” after the mom came into contact with a patient who tested positive for coronavirus at Sarasota Doctors Hospital, the school wrote on its Facebook page.
The school’s Facebook post said the mother came into contact with the patient in her “professional role.”
“Our student and his mother currently are not showing any symptoms and are in good health and spirits,” Sarasota Military Academy’s Facebook post reads. “We will keep you and your families updated with their status. Please remember to consistently and thoroughly wash your hands.”
On Friday, Pence visited Sarasota to attend a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, according to several media reports.
Several Sarasota Military Academy students got to meet Pence at Sarasota International Airport, shake his hand, take a picture with the vice president and tour Air Force Two.
President Donald Trump appointed Pence to lead the federal government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. Critics of Pence pointed to how he handled a 2015 HIV outbreak in southern Indiana when he was Governor of Indiana.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Pence has addressed state needs for equipment and funding to fight the spread of the coronavirus during a call with Governors. Pence told them the Trump administration would find the money to reimburse them.
As of Tuesday morning, there are more than 92,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus with about 106 in the U.S. So far, 3,129 people have died.
As of Monday, Florida has two confirmed cases of coronavirus: a woman in her 20s in Hillsborough County and a 60-year-old man in Manatee County. Both people remain in isolation and are in stable condition. A third “presumptive positive” test was identified Tuesday.
NEW: Florida has a third presumptive positive coronavirus result, in the sister of the 20-year-old woman who has already been confirmed with the virus, @GovRonDeSantis just said.
— Lawrence Mower (@lmower3) March 3, 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote “the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low” for the general American public.
