Top Trump aide has COVID-19
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tests positive as U.S. sees record cases.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was diagnosed with COVID-19 as the nation set daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic.
Two senior administration officials confirmed Friday that Meadows had tested positive for the disease, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans this year. They offered no details on when the chief of staff came down with the virus or his current condition. His diagnosis was first reported by Bloomberg News.
One administration official said several other staffers had tested positive as well.
Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to election day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as
Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count. He was one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago, but was tested daily and maintained his regular work schedule.
It marked the latest case of the virus in the West Wing, coming after Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, and other aides tested positive for the virus. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and at least two dozen others tested positive for the virus in early October, after Trump held large gatherings of people not wearing masks, including the ceremony announcing the nomination of now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Trump has repeatedly said that the nation is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic, which was top of mind for voters in Tuesday’s election.
COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have increased more than 50% in the last two weeks. According to an Associated Press analysis of data from John Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases rose from 61,166 on Oct. 22 to 94,625 on Thursday.