CDC has just 2 staffers conducting contact tracing at White House
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it's not planning to deploy a large team of staff members to the White House to conduct contact tracing.
CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes confirmed to ABC News that there are now two contact tracers assigned to the White House. The first CDC staff member assigned to the operation has been at the White House since March, while the second person joined the effort recently.
"There are no plans to send anyone else at this point," Haynes told ABC News on Friday.
ABC News reported on Tuesday that the agency had assembled a large team of experts to trace the explosion of COVID-19 cases at the White House but the unit has largely been put on standby as President Donald Trump opted to run his own operation through the White House medical unit.
COVID-19 cases among White House staff and their close contacts continue to climb after Trump revealed last week that he and his wife tested positive for the disease.
CDC guidelines recommend tracing cases as soon as possible because a single infected person can begin to spread COVID-19 two days before the individual has any symptoms or tests positive.
ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.