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Trump says he has been tested for the novel coronavirus, Pence says travel to UK will be banned

Pence says travel to UK will be cut off Monday
Posted at 11:38 AM, Mar 14, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-14 17:56:28-04

President Donald Trump said in a briefing at the White House Saturday that he has been tested for the coronavirus. Trump said the tests were "sent to a lab," and the results have not yet come back.

Reporters present during the update were submitted to temperature screenings. Those with a temperature above 99.9 were not permitted to attend the press conference.

Trump also said that his temperature was taken before the press conference, but he declined to give the reading.

During a press conference in the Rose Garden on Friday, Trump said that he did not plan to self-isolate, despite coming into contact with people who have since tested positive for the coronavirus at CPAC and at an event with the Brazilian leader, Jair Bolsonaro. At that same press conference, he repeatedly shook hands with health industry CEOs and other government officials.

"It almost becomes a habit," Trump said when asked about shaking hands.

He also added that he was "never was a hand-shaker" until he "became a politician" and said he "needed to get out of the habit of shaking hands."

Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that he had not yet been tested, but said he would speak to white House staff following Saturday's press conference.

After Trump's brief appearance at the press conference, Vice President Mike Pence said that the Trump administration was expanding its coronavirus travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland. Travel to those nations will be cut off on Monday at midnight E.T.

When asked about domestic travel restrictions, Pence said the administration is considering a broad range of options, but no decisions have been made.

U.S. citizens will be allowed back into the country, though they will be screened upon entry and asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Previously, the Trump administration had exempted the U.K. and Ireland from a 30-day travel ban to Europe, which went into effect at midnight E.T. on Friday.
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Pence also said Saturday that the Senate would vote "early next week" on a coronavirus stimulus bill. The Trump administration said Friday that they approve of the bill, and the House passed the bill Saturday morning.

According to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the House will need to vote on revised language on Monday, though he did not specify which language needed to be corrected.

Pence also addressed confusion surrounding Trump's promise of a Google website that would help direct people who believe they've been infected with the virus. Trump said Friday that hundreds of Google employees were working on building the map.

Google said later Friday evening that the site is in early stages, would launch in the coming days and would only serve the San Francisco area. Pence said Google had plans to expand the site in the coming weeks but did go into details.