EPA chief quarantining after exposure to someone who later tested positive for COVID-19

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will quarantine after he was exposed to someone who later tested positive for COVID-19. 

“Earlier today I was informed I experienced secondary exposure from an individual who tested positive for COVID-19. After consulting my doctor and out of an abundance of caution, I will quarantine until I’ve gone through the proper testing protocols,” Wheeler said in a statement. 

EPA spokesperson James Hewitt told The Hill in a follow-up email that Wheeler “was exposed to an individual who at the time of exposure had not yet tested positive, was wearing a mask, and was/still is asymptomatic.”

The country’s top environmental official was previously slated to speak at the Nixon Library this week for the opening of a new environmental exhibit, but said he will now participate virtually. 

“I look forward to carrying out agency business as usual,” he said. 

Wheeler’s quarantine doesn’t mean he has the coronavirus, but other high profile Trump officials have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Among them are President Trump himself, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Housing and Urban Development secretary Ben Carson.

More than 270,000 Americans have been killed by the coronavirus. 

Updated at 5:11 p.m.