More than 100 Secret Service officers infected with virus or isolating
WASHINGTON – More than 100 U.S. Secret Service officers are either infected with the COVID-19 virus or have been told to quarantine because of close contact with someone infected, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
While the total was not broken down by infection and quarantine, the person, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said the number skewed largely to quarantine as a precaution because of the officers’ past contacts.
The number included only those who are part of the service’s 1,600member Uniformed Division, which generally has the most contact with the public as they perform screening at events and patrol the White House grounds.
The source declined to comment on the number of infections and quarantines within the corps of agents, including those in the Protective Division who maintain closest contact with the president and other top White House officials.
The Washington Post first reported the infections and quarantines among service officers, indicating that the number was more than 130.
The Secret Service recently provided security at a series of campaign rallies hosted by President Donald Trump and lower-profile events for President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump had 10 rallies during the two days before the election, speaking to large crowds in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Many in attendance were maskless and packed closely together.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tested positive last week. Meadows was with Trump when he visited his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on Election Day and was seen not wearing a mask. He also attended a White House gathering that evening and came into contact with Trump family members, according to reports.
On Friday, the Secret Service declined to address the specific number of employees who had been sidelined, citing “operational” concerns.
It said in a statement that its protective and investigative missions had not been “degraded” by the pandemic.
The agency “successfully carried out its protective obligations associated with the presidential campaign” while adhering to testing and contact tracing protocols when suspected cases have arisen, it said.
On Sept. 26, Trump invited dozens of politicians and high-profile dignitaries to the White House Rose Garden to introduce Amy Coney Barrett as his pick to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
Many at the gathering did not wear masks, and social distancing was not apparent.
Audience members sat in chairs packed next to one another, and some of them exchanged hugs.
After that, the president and at least seven others tested positive for COVID-19 in what Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called a “superspreader event.”
Former Secret Service directors W. Ralph Basham and Lewis Merletti told USA TODAY last month the White House medical office is responsible for providing advice and recommendations on the potential threat posed by disease and other health issues, which are factored into the overall security plan.
Basham said the security and health challenge posed by the coronavirus is unprecedented.
“We are in uncharted waters,” said Basham, who was director from 2003 to 2006. “We haven’t seen anything like this before.”