(CNN) The White House said Saturday it will start conducting temperature checks for individuals who come into close contact with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"Out of an abundance of caution, temperature checks are now being performed on any individuals who are in close contact with the President and Vice President," Judd Deere, deputy press secretary, said in a statement.

On Saturday, a member of the White House physician's office, accompanied by a press aide, made the rounds, taking the temperature of members of the media ahead of Trump, Pence and the White House task force's news conference.

A journalist was denied entry into the press briefing after being told he had a fever. CNN was present for one of the temperature checks and saw the thermometer read 99.9 degrees.

"According to the White House Medical Unit, the temperature was taken three times over a 15-minute period - all three registered above the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines," Pence's press secretary Katie Miller tweeted.