Pence tests negative for coronavirus, Trump says

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Vice President Mike Pence had tested negative for the coronavirus again.

"The vice president first of all has been tested and he's negative and he was tested yesterday, tested today and he is negative," Trump said during a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House. "He's in very good shape and I think that that's going to be fine."

Pence is in the White House on Monday and not in quarantine, though his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

Besides Miller, a military member who served as one of Trump's personal valets has also recently tested positive for the virus.

White House officials working in the West Wing are being asked to wear masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a memo distributed to staffers.

Trump, who was not wearing a face mask during Monday's press conference, said that it was him who made the decision.

"If you look at all those people over there, every one of them from what I see, these are White House staffers, they're White House representatives, they're White House executives and everybody has a mask on. Just about everybody I've seen today has worn a mask," he said.

The president also announced that 11 billion U.S. dollars will go to the states for "the sole support of testing," as they are reopening or planning to reopen.

The coronavirus has infected more than 1.3 million people in the United States, with more than 80,000 deaths, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.