Yahoo News ad USA Today are reporting that eleven members of the US Secret Service had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday evening.
Documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seen by Yahoo News, revealed that the agency has 11 active coronavirus cases and an additional 60 employees who are reportedly self-quarantining. On top of this, another 23 members have already recovered from COVID-19, the diseases caused by the coronavirus.
It is not known whether the employees who tested positive for the coronavirus worked at the White House or if they had recent close contact with President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.
Both Trump and Pence get tested for the disease regularly but have not tested positive so far. However, Trump said this week that he would switch from having weekly to daily tests following the new cases, according to The Hill.
Justin Whelan, a spokesperson for the Secret Service told Yahoo News that the agency is following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
"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," Whelan added.
A member of Vice President Mike Pence’s staff, press secretary Katie Miller, wife of White House aide Stephen Miller, also tested positive for coronavirus, along with a military valet to President Trump.