Senior White House officials sought urgent help from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s office to get tested after a COVID-19 outbreak among staff and visitors, according to a new report.
According to the New York Times, White House aides, some of them senior, last weekend “frantically called officials at the office of Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland for help getting tested.”
More than a dozen White House officials, including the president and first lady Melania Trump, have tested positive for the coronavirus, and Trump was hospitalized for the disease at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Friday evening through Monday.
After returning from Walter Reed Monday, Trump was seen ripping off his mask and saluting Marine One on the main south portico balcony, while staff photographers and other White House staff stood behind him.
Numerous officials and allies who have tested positive did so after attending an event at the White House, where Trump announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court nominee. Attendees sat close to one another, and few were seen wearing masks. While the event was held outside, another smaller convening took place indoors.
The White House did not return a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the White House announced that it had hired “a ‘well-being’ consultant” to advise executive residence staff with mental health concerns.
Chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters that Trump hopes to resume working from the Oval Office on Wednesday.
