The Secret Service is handling 11 cases of COVID-19 as the White House grapples with staffers contracting the virus.
A Thursday report from the Department of Homeland Security outlined that 11 employees were sick as of that night. The new data comes after a single employee tested positive in March. Additionally, there have been 23 members of the Secret Service who have recovered from the illness, Yahoo News reported. There is no indication of whether the infected members had any contact with President Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.
“To protect the privacy of our employee’s health information and for operational security, the Secret Service is not releasing how many of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19, nor how many of its employees were, or currently are, quarantined,” said Secret Service spokeswoman Justine Whelan.
Whelan highlighted that the agency is adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines.
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Secret Service has been working with all of our public safety partners and the White House Medical Unit to ensure the safety and security of both our protected persons and our employees,” Whelan said. “The Secret Service continues to follow guidance issued by the CDC to ensure the health and welfare of our employees and those they come in contact with.”
On Thursday, a valet for the president tested positive for COVID-19, prompting mass testing for staffers. The following day it was revealed that Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Pence, also tested positive. She is married to Trump staffer Stephen Miller, who allegedly spends a lot of time with the president, although the White House said Friday he hasn’t been around Trump or Pence recently.
The United States has had almost 1.3 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 77,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
