United States President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said in a statement to the press on Monday.
“National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for COVID-19. He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off-site. There is no risk of exposure to the president or the vice president.
“The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted,” the statement added.
O’Brien is the senior-most official in the White House to test positive for COVID-19. It remains unclear whether he met with Trump after contracting the virus.
The last time Trump and O’Brien appeared in public together was in Miami on July 10 during a visit to the US Southern Command.
O’Brien is just the latest of the many people in Trump’s sphere to test positive for the virus.
Last week, a White House cafeteria employee tested positive for COVID-19.
Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive earlier this month before a trip to Mount Rushmore. Multiple secret service agents and campaign staff also tested positive in June. One of Trump’s personal valets and Vice President Mike Pence’s communications aide, Katie Miller, both contracted the virus in May.
Trump and the officials who are regularly in contact with him are tested for COVID-19 daily.
Earlier this month, O’Brien traveled to Europe to meet with officials from the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and France. He was photographed with multiple top officials during the trip. None of the officials were seen wearing masks in the photos.
O’Brien’s COVID-19 positive report comes as the total number of cases in the US has now surpassed 4.2 million, with more than 146,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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