WASHINGTON — Anyone meeting President Trump or Vice President Pence will now be subjected to rapid COVID-19 tests to prevent the leaders from becoming infected with the virus, the White House said Friday.

Starting immediately, people expected to be in close approximately with either Trump or Pence will be given a the test to “to evaluate for pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

“As the Physician to the President and White House Operations continue to protect the health and safety of the President and Vice President, 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,” Deere said.

The coronavirus test, designed to “limit inadvertent transmission,” will not apply to reporters in the daily White House briefings where numbers have already been dramatically slashed.

Officials have repeatedly warned that people who are asymptomatic may be carrying the deadly virus, with a study warning that as many as 86 percent of those infected are walking around undetected.

The White House established its own task force to protect the president, 74, and his staff from becoming infected at the begging of the outbreak in early March but Friday’s report suggests the White House is now deploying more stringent measures.

The rapid COVID-19 testing device manufactured by Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories was unveiled by Trump in the White House Rose Garden last week and can produce a result in just five minutes.

The president was re-tested for the virus again on Thursday with the rapid-use device which spat out a negative result 15 minutes later, according to a White House memo circulated at the evening briefing.