The White House will give coronavirus tests to people who get close to Donald Trump

WASHINGTON – People who are expected to be in President Donald Trump's immediate physical space will be given a "quick test" for coronavirus, the White House said Friday.

The requirement also applies to people who are expected to go near Vice President Mike Pence.

The decision was made "as the Physician to the President and White House Operations continue to protect the health and safety of the President and Vice President," White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

Deere added: "Starting today anyone who is expected to be in close proximity to either of them will be administered a COVID-19 test to evaluate for pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers status to limit inadvertent transmission."

More: Trump warns of 'very painful' time as aides predict US coronavirus death toll could reach 240,000

During a Trump meeting Friday with energy executives, reporters asked the president about the new testing requirements. He didn't appear to know anything about them.

This is the new "quick test" that Trump himself took earlier this week. He said he got the result, a negative, within 15 minutes.

"I think I took it, really, out of curiosity to see how quickly it worked and fast it worked, and it's a lot easier," said Trump, who also passed a coronvairus test in March.

Only people physically close to the president and vice president will be tested, the White House said.

The requirement is not expected to apply, for example, to members of the press pool, who are kept relatively far away from Trump and Pence at briefings and other events.

Reporters and other people entering the White House grounds have had to undergo temperature tests for the past three weeks.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White House to give coronavirus tests to people near Donald Trump