White House makes random coronavirus testing mandatory for staff

• Random coronavirus tests at the White House will now become mandatory for staff in the Executive Office of the President, a White House official told CNBC.
• The heightened level of enforcement with the random testing policy comes "as part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of the entire White House Complex," the official said.
• The policy had already been in place on a voluntary basis for "several months," the official said.

From left: Counselor to President Hope Hicks, Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and White House Staff Secretary Derek Lyons walk across the South Lawn upon return to the White House in Washington, DC.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Random coronavirus tests at the White House will now become mandatory for staff in the Executive Office of the President, a White House official told CNBC on Monday.

The heightened level of enforcement with the random testing policy comes "as part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of the entire White House Complex," the official said.

Multiple people who work in the White House have tested positive for the virus – including at least one who was in close proximity to President Donald Trump.

The random testing policy had already been in place on a voluntary basis for "several months," the official said.

Politico, however, reported that White House staff had received an email Monday morning informing them that random Covid-19 testing was starting that day. "Failure to report to testing will be considered a refusal to test," the email said, according to the news outlet.

More than 4.6 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and at least 154,860 people have died, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.

The White House has previously implemented rules to prevent transmission of Covid-19 on its grounds.

After Trump's personal valet and Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller both tested positive in May, The White House started requiring staffers entering the West Wing to wear facial coverings. Staffers in close contact with Trump are receiving regular testing.

But The Tampa Bay Times, citing the White House Correspondents' Association, reported later Monday that a reporter who recently traveled with Trump to Florida has tested positive.