This is a momentous week in the fight against the coronavirus. According to White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett's model , there will be zero deaths in the U.S. from the disease by May 15. The Trump administration has reportedly been relying on Hassett's predictive model, among others, to make determinations on reopening. Hassett isn't an epidemiologist, nor does he have a background in public health. He's an economist and formerly served as the chair for the Council of Economic Advisers to the president. And, as he told CBS's Face the Nation Sunday, the pandemic has him scared to go enter the White House.
"It is scary to go to work," he said, adding, "I think that I'd be a lot safer if I was sitting at home instead of going to the West Wing. But, you know, it's a time when people have to step up and serve their country." Hassett also said that he practices "aggressive social distancing" and will "wear a mask when I feel it's necessary."
Hassett's predictive model may leave a lot to be desired—Nate Silver believes that he arrived at it by using a stock Excel spreadsheet function —but it's wise of him to wear a mask, since the White House is on its way to becoming a coronavirus hotspot. Katie Miller, Mike Pence's press secretary and the wife of White House adviser
Stephen Miller, tested positive for the virus late last week. That news came out shortly after Pence met in person with several food company CEOs. Not only did Pence not wear a mask but the executives who were wearing them were forced to remove them as the meeting started.
Miller isn't alone though. CNN reports that the personal assistant to White House adviser Ivanka Trump, who has struggled to follow stay-at-home orders, tested positive late last week. That assistant pulls double duty, also working directly under the president, but she's reportedly been working remotely recently.
The same can't be said for the president's personal valet though, who's responsible for serving Trump his meals. He also tested positive last week, and Trump reportedly became "lava level mad" with his staff when he herd the news, accusing them of not doing enough to keep him protected from the virus. Both Trump and Pence, who are tested daily, came back negative after learning their underlings were infected. It's not the first time those close to the president have caught the virus: In March, at a Mar-a-Lago birthday party for Donald Trump, Jr.'s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, a number of guests, including Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, had to self-quarantine after one of the guests turned out to have had coronavirus.
Trump, however, seems to be struggling to understand the concepts of infection and testing. “This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great,”
Trump said , after a test for Miller came back positive “out of the blue.” “This is why testing isn’t necessary. We have the best testing in the world, but testing’s not necessarily the answer because they were testing them.” Meanwhile, testing outside the White House is still
woefully lacking to keep apace with both the spread and the country's larger population.
Still, the Trump administration is pushing forward with its plans to "re-open the economy" as soon as possible. It scrapped recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control on how to safely reopen because officials thought it would just slow down economic recovery—even as the U.S. surpassed 80,000 COVID-19 deaths.