[NFA] Dozens of U.S. Secret Service officers assigned to protect President Donald Trump have been sidelined by COVID-19, the Washington Post and New York Times reported on Friday as the coronavirus outbreak spread at the White House.
This report produced by Jillian Kitchener.
More than 130 U.S. Secret Service officers assigned to protect President Donald Trump have been sidelined by COVID-19, according to the Washington Post.
Two U.S. government sources confirmed to Reuters that Secret Service officers had tested positive for the virus… but they did not say how many.
One of the sources said a larger number of officers who had not tested positive had gone into quarantine as a protective measure.
White House spokesman Judd Deere referred questions to the Secret Service, but told the Post separately that the administration took every case seriously.
The outbreak, which the Post said was at least partly linked to a series of pre-election Trump rallies, comes about a month after the president himself contracted COVID-19 and was flown to a U.S. military hospital for days of treatment.
Various White House officials - and federal employees - have tested positive for the virus in recent weeks.
... as many state governments are struggling to tame alarming surges in infections and hospitalizations.
According to Reuters calculations - skyrocketing infections could add more than 8 million more cases and 70,000 deaths nationwide between now and inauguration day.
Experts say the only ways to change that trajectory is for state governments to enforce stricter health measures or for the Trump administration to alter its coronavirus strategy.
The outbreak is reported following the close of a campaign season that featured Trump rallies and lower-profile Biden events prior..
Corey Lewandowski, Trump campaign adviser, tests positive for COVID-19