FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gives a news briefing about the coronavirus with members of the White House coronavirus task force at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that U.S. public health authorities had issued new guidance to make clear that a doctor’s order was all that would be needed for any American to be tested for the novel coronavirus.

“We’re issuing new guidance, effective immediately, from the CDC that will make it clear that any clinician on health authority can administer the test,” Pence told reporters at the White House, referring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.