Dr. Birx Reveals She Couldn't Treat Her Granddaughter's Fever Out of Fear of Getting Trump Sick

Dr. Deborah Birx is stressing the importance of social distancing amid the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

During Monday’s press briefing at The White House, Birx, who is one of the two leading medical experts on the White House coronavirus task force, revealed that she opted not to treat her sick granddaughter over the weekend out of fear of getting President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence sick.

“We need to take care of each other now as Americans. And I know they’re tough,” Birx said. “My grandchild of 10 months had a fever of 105 this weekend. I’m a doctor, and I couldn’t get there. So I’m trying to explain to my daughter how to listen to her lungs.”

“You could not get there?” Trump, 73, asked Birx as she was speaking.

“I could not go there!” Birx quipped back, prompting Trump to say, “Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

“I did not go there, because of you two,” Birx said in reference to Trump and Pence, 60. “I mean, you can’t take that kind of risk with leaders of the country.”

Birx explained that her family is taking social distancing seriously and isn’t allowing anyone “in that house or out that house because there’s too much precious cargo.”

Birx’s elderly parents live in the same home as her daughter and infant granddaughter.

As for how her granddaughter is doing now, Birx said, “Babies can do that, but it’s very scary, so it was just a few sleepless nights for me.”

“I’m sure it’s roseola,” Birx said of the common viral illness that affects young children and causes a high fever.

Trump remains in good health amid the global health crisis.

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During Thursday’s press briefing, Trump announced that he had been re-tested for coronavirus and tested negative.

“I did take a test that just came out. … I went to work. I did not wait for it, but it took 14 minutes or something to come up with the conclusion. … So that is the second one. I think I took it really out of curiosity to see how quickly it worked and fast it worked,” Trump explained.

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“And it’s a lot easier. I’ve done them both. And the second one is much more pleasant,” he added.

White House Physician Sean P. Conley explained in a memorandum obtained by PEOPLE before the briefing that Trump is “healthy and without symptoms.”

“This morning, the President was tested again for COVID-19, utilizing a new, rapid point-of-care test capability. He is healthy and without symptoms. Sample collection took just one minute, and results were reported back in 15 minutes. The President tested negative for COVID-19.”

Trump first took the test in March.

At Saturday’s news conference, Trump opened up about his family, specifically his 14-year-old son Barron is handling life in isolation.

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“He’s like everyone else,” Trump, 73, said at a Saturday news briefing at the White House. “He’s in his room. He’s happy, but he’s not as happy as you could be.”

“He’d like to be playing sports, Barron,” the president added, noting that his teen son, who is largely kept out of the public eye given his age, is “a good athlete, and he loves soccer.”

As of Monday, there are now at least 365,525 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, the most worldwide.

At least 10,925 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus-related illness.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.