Nov. 14 (UPI) — More than 100 members of the Secret Service have tested positive for COVID-19 or are isolating due to exposure to the virus, sources familiar with the situation said Friday.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told CNN, The Washington Post and USA Today it’s believed that the illnesses and quarantines are linked to several campaign rallies held by President Donald Trump. Dozens of USSS officers travel with or ahead of the president for each campaign rally.
One source said that of the more than 100 officers affected, a minority have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and the rest were ordered to isolate because of exposure to the virus.
Another source said Secret Service officers aren’t aware of how many of their colleagues are ill or isolated because they’re not being told by superiors.
The affected officers are part of the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division of about 1,600 people.
The outbreak among the officers coincides with a number of other positive tests linked to the White House.
Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, tested positive shortly after Election Day, while at least four people who attended the White House election night party also tested positive — Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski, political director Brian Jack, political adviser Healy Baumgardner, and an unidentified White House staffer.
Several others, including Trump and first lady Melania Trump, tested positive last month.
So far, at least 30 administration and campaign officials have tested positive since late September. More than a dozen who attended a Sept. 26 event at the Rose Garden to introduce Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett later tested positive.
A record 153,500 people tested positive for coronavirus in the United States on Thursday and 900 people died.
