11 US Secret Service agents test positive for the coronavirus – Business Insider – Business Insider

Eleven members of the US Secret Service have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday evening, according to Yahoo News.

Documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seen by Yahoo News, revealed that the agency has 11 active coronavirus cases and an additional 60 employees who are reportedly self-quarantining. On top of this, another 23 members have already recovered from COVID-19, the diseases caused by the coronavirus.

It is not known whether the employees who tested positive for the coronavirus worked at the White House or if they had recent close contact with President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.

Both Trump and Pence get tested for the disease regularly but have not tested positive so far. However, Trump said this week that he would switch from having weekly to daily tests following the new cases, according to The Hill.

Justin Whelan, a spokesperson for the Secret Service told Yahoo News that the agency is following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

"To protect the privacy of our employee's health information and for operational security, the Secret Service is not releasing how many of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19, nor how many of its employees were, or currently are, quarantined," Whelan added.

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2019, file photo President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Stephen Miller, left, and Katie Waldman, now Miller, arrive for a State Dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Donald Trump at the White House. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) Associated Press

The news comes as President Donald Trump revealed on Friday that Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the coronavirus. Miller, who is the wife of Stephen Miller Trump's senior adviser, and primary speechwriter confirmed her diagnosis with NBC News, adding that she was asymptomatic.

Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has also tested positive for the coronavirus, CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported.

This follows a US Navy member who serves as one of Trump's valets who tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, according to CNN.

The string of recent diagnoses in the White House raises concerns about the president's possible exposure to the virus, which has since infected more than 1.3 million people in the US, according to Worldometer.

Trump has previously said that he's "not worried" about getting infected and has notably been seen not wearing a face mask at recent meetings and public appearances, despite the advice on face coverings by the CDC.

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11 US Secret Service agents test positive for the coronavirus - Business Insider - Business Insider

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