Several agents working on Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Phoenix, Arizona, have tested positive for coronavirus, CNN reports.
Pence’s visit to Arizona, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed a day so that healthy agents could be available for his visit. The trip, which originally had called for public events, became a quick drop-in to support state officials battling a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The agency issued a statement Friday night acknowledging issues with the coronavirus but provided little detail.
“To protect the privacy of our employees’ 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,” said Secret Service director of communications Catherine Milhoan.
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“As a matter of practice, the Secret Service does not comment on the means and methods used to carry out our protective operations. The men and women of the Secret Service continue to meet operational mission requirements without fail.”
Trump’s June 23 visit to the state, his third in five months, underscored the state’s status as a battleground state in the presidential election.
In Phoenix, he spent fewer than 10 minutes of his 1½ hour speech discussing the new coronavirus, and the crowd of about 3,000 supporters appeared similarly disinterested in dwelling on the pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Both Maricopa County and Phoenix have enacted ordinances requiring masks in public places.
Most of the attendees who packed into Dream City Church in north Phoenix did not wear face coverings. Nor did any of the event speakers, including the president.
During his speech, the president repeatedly assured his crowd that the U.S. was at “the end of the pandemic.”
Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Trump campaign official and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the president’s event at Mount Rushmore.
Guilfoyle attended the Trump event in Phoenix, which was 10 days before her positive test. The incubation period for COVID-19 can be up to 14 days.
Before coming to Arizona, Trump spoke at a June 20 rally in Tulsa, where Secret Service agents also reportedly tested positive for the virus.
