Vice President Mike Pence will continue with his aggressive campaign schedule after his chief of staff, Marc Short, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley says Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, both tested negative for the virus on Saturday and remain in good health.
Short is Pence’s closest aide and the vice president is considered a “close contact” under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
O’Malley says that “in consultation with the White House Medical Unit, the Vice President will maintain his schedule in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel.”
Those guidelines mandate that essential workers exposed to someone with the coronavirus closely monitor for symptoms of Covid-19 and wear a mask whenever around other people.
After a day of campaigning Saturday, Pence was seen wearing a mask as he returned to Washington aboard Air Force Two once the news of Short’s diagnosis was made public.
Two top advisers to Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past few days, people briefed on the matter said, raising new questions about the safety protocols at the White House, where masks are not routinely worn.
A second person familiar with the outbreak, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Pence adviser Marty Obst also tested positive in the past few days.
US President Donald Trump, the first lady and several aides and advisers tested positive for the virus roughly three weeks ago.
Trump spent three nights at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and he was treated with a cocktail of medicine that included an experimental antibody treatment, as well as the steroid dexamethasone.
Read Also: Trump, Biden fight over the raging virus, climate and race