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Top U.S. military leaders were in quarantine Tuesday after a senior coast guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said, as Donald Trump, infected with the coronavirus itself, continued to recover at the White House.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Vice President Gen. John Hyten are among those affected, US officials said.
Military leaders who were in contact with Admiral Charles W Ray, the vice commander of the United States Coast Guard, were told Monday night that he had tested positive, and all were tested Tuesday morning. according to several US officials. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement that none have shown symptoms or tested positive so far.
Ray was at a meeting of the joint chiefs of staff late Friday morning in what is called the Tank, the classified meeting room at the Pentagon. Officials said that’s where most of the military leaders were exposed to him, but he also had other meetings with officials.
Infections at the top level of the military are adding to a growing sense of a coronavirus crisis in the US government, where the White House is also experiencing an outbreak. While the total number of White House employees and aides who tested positive is unknown, given the administration’s cloak of secrecy surrounding the outbreak, the total number of cases appeared to number in the dozens, making the House Blanca in one of the hottest hotspots for virus circulation in the entire United States.
A day after the president of the United States returned from the Maryland military hospital where he had been treated for the disease, at least two additional cases of Covid-19 were diagnosed in his immediate circle.
A military attache, Jayna McCarron, tested positive, as did a valet, an active duty military member who traveled with Trump last week, Bloomberg reported for the first time.
General Milley’s decision to quarantine was first reported by CNN. He and other leaders attended a recent reception at the White House for military families that was also attended by the president and first lady, Melania Trump, who also tested positive. But other reports cited anonymous officials who said the military outbreak was not believed to be linked to the White House.
The news sparked outrage among some observers. Democratic Congressman and Veteran Ted Lieu He said The president’s behavior was a matter of national security. “Trump’s anti-science and anti-mask agenda is also a threat to national security. Several members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are now in quarantine due to exposure to # COVID-19”He tweeted.
Meanwhile, eager to project strength just four weeks before Election Day, Trump, who is still contagious with the virus, tweeted Tuesday morning that he plans to attend the upcoming weeks’ debate with Democrat Joe Biden in Miami. It will be great! he said.
In a letter, Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, said Trump had a “rest” night at the White House and that he reported no symptoms Tuesday. On Monday afternoon, shortly before his departure from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Conley offered that the president would not be completely out of the woods for a week.
Trump himself interrupted a series of invectives and online attacks on opponents to cheep: “FEEL GOOD!”
Republican supporters echoed this triumphant message on cable television and social media, but it was undermined by a confirmed death toll in the United States of more than 210,000 and a number of cases of more than 7.5 million.
Trump also tried to downplay the dangers of the coronavirus, but was censored by social media platforms, which sent him a warning message. a tweet compare the virus with the flu or eliminate it completely.
“This tweet violated the Twitter Rules on the dissemination of misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19,” the company said. He said on a label superimposed on Trump’s words.
On Monday night, in a highly choreographed arrival at the White House from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Trump attempted to project a message of indomitability.
After a three-day stay in the hospital, the president got off the Marine One helicopter just before 7 p.m. and climbed the stairs to the south portico. He stopped in front of a doorway lit by four American flags, turned to the south lawn, and cheekily removed his mask while posing for the cameras.
Trump saluted, raised two thumbs, and saluted as Marine One flew away. A photographer was nearby. Video footage suggested the president was breathing heavily. He then saluted and entered, where the masked staff were visible, only to reappear on what appeared to be a movie shoot.
In the movie, that he tweeted shortly afterTrump offered strangely contrary advice on the virus: “Don’t let it take over you. Don’t be afraid of it. You are going to beat it. We have the best medical team. We have the best drugs, all recently developed. “
The president added: “No one who is a leader would not do what I did. And I know there is a risk, there is a danger, but it’s okay. And now I’m better and maybe I’m immune, I don’t know! But don’t let it rule your lives. Get out there. Be careful.”
Critics were stunned. Neera Tanden, chair of the think tank at the Center for American Progress, told MSNBC: “I couldn’t imagine a greater act of selfishness on the part of a human being, let alone the President of the United States, who is supposed to protect us. She’s doing the opposite, she’s putting the people around her in danger. “
Trump, who had already admitted that he deliberately downplayed the virus for months, announced on Twitter his intention to return to the campaign “soon.” Such messages seemed to confirm predictions that if Trump remains relatively healthy, he will try to use his own experience to play down the virus again.
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