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Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, tested positive for COVID-19.
Bloomberg reported late Friday that Meadows, 61, was confirmed to be infected with the virus, along with at least four other White House aides.
As with previous outbreaks, the White House tried to keep it a secret, CNN and Bloomberg reported.
The White House told DailyMail.com that the White House medical unit has completed all contract tracing related to Meadows’ diagnosis, but did not provide further details.
His diagnosis brings the number of people in the White House orbit who tested positive to at least 46.
Mark Meadows, 61, Tested Positive for Coronavirus, Revealed Friday
Meadows, right, has been one of the strongest supporters of Trump’s anti-mask policy.
New York magazine reported that 36 had tested positive on October 14, before it was confirmed that Mike Pence’s chief of staff and four aides contracted the virus on October 25.
The five new cases confirmed on Friday push the tally to 46.
On Friday, more than 125,000 Americans tested positive, a new record in a single day and the third day in a row with more than 100,000 new cases each day.
It was unclear when Meadows tested positive.
He was last in the White House on Thursday, CNN reported.
Trump tested positive on October 1 and is believed to be unlikely to be reinfected.
Meadows was with the president throughout his treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center.
On October 25, Meadows told CNN that the United States was “not going to control” the coronavirus pandemic.
‘We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we receive vaccines, therapies and other areas of mitigation, ‘he said.
Pressing Tapper on why the United States is not going to control the pandemic, Meadows said: “Because it is a contagious virus like the flu.”
He added that the Trump administration is “making efforts to contain it.”
“What we have to do is make sure we have the right mitigating factors, whether it’s therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure people don’t die from this,” Meadows said.
The White House has been battling a coronavirus outbreak since Sept. 26, when a Rose Garden ‘super spread event’ took place – the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.
Meadows was with Trump in his last two-day, seven-state, ten-rally campaign, where he was seen at the events without wearing a face mask.
On that trip, Meadows had close contact with members of the Trump family who had not been diagnosed with COVID, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Additionally, Meadows was at the White House on Election Night where he attended a party on the east wing filled with prominent Trump supporters, including President Rudy Giuliani’s personal attorney, 76.
Organizers said everyone would be tested for COVID-19 upon entering.
Earlier Tuesday, Meadows joined Trump at the campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and was again wearing no mask.
On Thursday he was at the White House.
Meadows, in a circle, was with Trump Tuesday morning at campaign headquarters.
Meadows has been one of the most inflexible anti-maskers in the Trump administration, and insiders say he is rarely seen wearing a face mask, in deference to Trump.
On October 12, outside of the Coney Barrett Senate hearing, reporters asked Meadows to keep the mask on while addressing them.
“I’m not going to speak through a mask,” he said, and left.
In May, Meadows circumvented CDC restrictions by hosting her daughter’s 70-person indoor wedding in Atlanta, despite major coronavirus lockdowns and local ordinances blocking large gatherings.
Meadows accompanies Trump to Walter Reed on October 2
There were more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Friday for the fourth day in a row, the first since August.
Forensics recorded 1,211 deaths.
The number of people admitted to the hospital has also risen, along with the total number of cases, across much of the country, with the Midwest and Southwest now hit the hardest.
However, unlike previous waves of the virus in the US, the current increase is not concentrated in a single region.
In recent weeks, there have been sudden increases in Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, and Minnesota.
Increases have also been observed on the east coast, in Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Only two states, Tennessee and Alabama, have seen a drop in cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Doctors and officials are warning people that hospitals are at risk of quickly being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
As infection rates increase, hospitalizations and deaths have also started to slowly increase.
Around 53,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday.
Public health experts had said that there is likely to be an increase in cases as the weather begins to cool.
The president has insisted that the country is ‘completely turning around’ with the virus, but the White House coronavirus task force claims otherwise.
