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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the US National Guard. The US, which is at the forefront of the national military response to the new coronavirus, is in limbo after testing positive and negative for conflicting results this weekend, officials said Sunday.
Officials said Gen. Joseph Lengyel tested positive Saturday, but later tested negative the same day. He will undergo another test Monday to confirm his negative status, officials said.
One of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in addition to Lengyel, Chief Admiral of Naval Operations Mike Gilday had contacted a family member who was positive for coronavirus.
Gilday tested negative for the coronavirus but was quarantined as a precaution for one week.
The status of Lengyel and Gilday was first reported by Reuters.
Neither Lengyel nor Gilday was present at a White House meeting on Saturday between President Donald Trump and his national security team, which included all other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The situation shows how the coronavirus, which has killed more than 78,000 people in the United States, is impacting leadership in the United States government and military.
Three senior officials who guided the US response. USA The coronavirus pandemic was also quarantined on Saturday after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the disease, their agencies and spokesmen said.
The officials were Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. USA, Stephen Hahn.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Vice President Mike Pence’s spokeswoman Katie Miller had tested positive for the virus, a day after the news that Trump’s personal valet had also tested positive.
The National Guard has been at the forefront of the military response to the coronavirus. More than 46,700 National Guard members support the response, and 967 members have tested positive so far.
(Report by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Edition by Kim Coghill and Diane Craft)
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