12 May

US President Donald Trump is requiring White House personnel to wear face masks after two of them tested positive for the coronavirus.

Last week, two staff members working near the president and Vice President Mike Pence were found to have been infected with the virus.

Key members of the government task force responding to the outbreak have put themselves under self-quarantine after they came into contact with the infected staff.

At a news conference on Monday, Trump confirmed that he had requested all employees who enter the West Wing, which houses his offices, to wear masks.

Trump said that people who had contact with the infected staff tested negative. He insisted that the disease is "very well-contained" at the White House.

Trump and his close aides, including Pence, have been criticized for their unwillingness to wear masks in public, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of masks.

The president cited as a reason not to wear one, a certain distance he keeps with people around him.

NHK