(Photo : Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 02: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany takes off her face covering before speaking with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on October 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for coronavirus.
The spread of the coronavirus in the White House continues as White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and two of her deputies test positive for COVID-19, Monday.
MacEnany and the two are added to the list of aides which have tested positive who came in contact with President Donald Trump. The continued rise in the number of infections in the White House has also increased fears that more infections are yet to come.
On Monday, the press secretary announced through Twitter that after days of consistently testing negative for the virus since Thursday, she has tested positive for the virus. She also stated that she is not experiencing any symptoms.
Moreover, two deputies of McEnany who are assigned in the press shop of the White House have also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, The New York Times reported.
In addition, McEnany also stated that she will be enrolling herself in the process of quarantine. However, she assured the public that she will continue her work remotely in order to bring information and serve the American People.
McEnany is the latest member of the administration and Trump campaign to become ill with the disease. It can be recalled that on Thursday, one of Trump's top aides, Hope Hicks also tested positive for the virus.
Read also: Trump's Latest Health Status: POTUS Enters Phase 2 of COVID-19 Condition, May Be Critical Next Days
In connection to Hicks' case, McEnany insisted in her statement that she did not know that Hicks has already caught the virus when she came to a media briefing on Thursday.
On Friday, Trump and his wife Melania revealed that they both tested positive for the virus.
After this, several people in the White House and in Trump's campaign team also tested positive. People who were diagnosed with COVID-19 included Bill Stepien, the campaign manager of the president, former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Kellyanne Conway, a former senior adviser in the White House.
On top of this, Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel, and Trump's assistant Nicholas Luna, also tested positive.
After testing positive, the president was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment. Meanwhile, Christie also admitted himself to a hospital in New Jersey. On the other hand, Melania Trump and the others chose to isolate themselves at home.
Concerns also rose after McEnany tested positive since it was just on Saturday that she briefed reporters about Trump's condition and she was not wearing a mask.
According to Yahoo! News, the positive diagnosis of many people in the White House followed the doubts if whether it is already safe for the President to go back to the White House without posing threat to himself and to others. Moreover, there have been several speculations that the White House is not safe at the moment.
Meanwhile, despite the increasing cases in the White House, Vice President Mike Pence is still scheduled to join the vice-presidential debate on Wednesday in Utah. According to one of his doctors, Pence will not be quarantining since he had not come in close contact with those who tested positive, and his latest test also came out negative.
Related article: Pres. Trump Returns to White House and Removes Mask, Reassuring COVID-19 is Nothing to Be Afraid Of
