Ivanka Trump Says She 'Always' Wears a Mask Around Her Dad & Others Are Told to Do So, Too

The contagious respiratory illness has been spreading closer to the Oval Office: Last week, two White House staffers who regularly interact with the president and vice president tested positive.

The virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, has forced some White House staffers and federal health officials working in the White House to temporarily telework from home — including all of First Lady Melania Trump's employees, her spokeswoman told PEOPLE this week.

"If we go in for meetings, we get tested and strictly adhere to social distancing," Stephanie Grisham said then.

Another White House employee said "it is scary to go to work" and described the office space as a "a small, crowded place" and said it would feel safer to work from home.

“I think that I’d be a lot safer if I was sitting at home than I would be going to the West Wing,” Kevin Hassett, one of Trump's top economic advisers, said on CBS’ Face the Nation.

Still, he said on Sunday, "It’s the time when people have to step up and serve their country."

Trump and Pence are now being tested daily, Trump has said.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Trump has privately "been growing irritated with people who get too close to him" and was "spooked" that one of his valets, who tested positive for the coronavirus, hadn't been wearing a mask around him.

Ivanka, who wore a black mask with an American flag pig while visiting a food distribution plant in Laurel, Maryland, on Friday morning, told USA Today that "all those who come into contact with [President Trump] are tested on a daily basis" and that "no one is in close proximity to him that isn't wearing a mask."

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