WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence has postponed a planned trip to Arizona this week after Secret Service agents who traveled with him tested positive for the coronavirus or showed symptoms, two administration officials said Thursday.
Mr. Pence was scheduled to visit Arizona on Tuesday, but multiple factors related to the spread of the virus thwarted those plans, according to a person familiar with Mr. Pence’s trip.
A rapid increase in new cases in the state has overwhelmed testing centers in recent days, and Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, ordered bars, gyms, and movie theaters closed this week. In apparent recognition of the outbreaks that erupted in the south and west, the vice president canceled his plan to lead a “Faith in America” campaign rally in Tucson on Tuesday and then visit Yuma with Mr. Ducey.
Instead, Mr. Pence opted for a shorter visit to Phoenix on Wednesday, where he participated in a public health briefing at Sky Harbor International Airport.
“Aid is on the way,” Mr. Pence said at a press conference with Mr. Ducey at the airport, after descending the steps of Air Force Two wearing a mask, the latest sign of the changing posture of the administration on facial coatings.
But positive tests and symptoms from Secret Service agents who were expected to be close to the man who ranks second in the presidency were some of the factors that prompted his schedule change, officials said. News of officers who showed symptoms of Covid-19, or tested positive, were first reported by The Washington Post.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Pence did not respond to a request for comment.
Catherine Milhoan, director of communications for the Secret Service, said Thursday night that the agency does not comment on how it protects government directors. But she added that “the health and safety of our workforce, their families, and that of our protégés remains the agency’s highest priority.”
Still, the latest illnesses among the small circle of people who interact directly with the vice president were a reminder of the dangers of continuing the campaign and official government travel as the pandemic continues.
At least eight campaign staff members who helped plan President Trump’s internal rally last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tested positive for the virus, either before the rally or after attending, the campaign said. On Thursday, after Herman Cain, a former presidential candidate who had been to the president’s rally in Tulsa, said he had been hospitalized for the coronavirus, a Trump campaign spokesman, Tim Murtaugh, made it clear that Cain did not he had seen the president. in person during the event. “Sir. Cain did not meet with the president,” said Murtaugh.
In May, Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Pence, tested positive for the coronavirus, as did a military aide for Mr. Trump.
The president, however, has continued to promote an optimistic message that the worst of the pandemic has passed, even when he has suspended planned campaign events and those who have worked who he has organized have fallen ill.
“We would like to see churches open quickly,” Trump said at a press conference Thursday morning, praising the latest job numbers, even as the country reported more than 55,000 new cases. “Many people would have withered. We don’t wither. Our country did not wither. “
Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting.
