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Second Mike Pence Staffer Reportedly Tests Positive For Coronavirus

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Anders Hagstrom White House Correspondent
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A staffer in Vice President Mike Pence’s office has tested positive for coronavirus, NBC News reported Friday.

The unidentified staffer is the second confirmed case of COVID-19 in Pence’s office since mid-March. Initial reports indicate the staffer has not been in contact with the vice president since contracting the virus. (RELATED: Democratic Witness In House Coronavirus Hearing Pleaded Guilty In 2019 Sex Abuse Case)

“We know that this person wasn’t scheduled to travel with the vice president today,” NBC News reporter Hans Nichols said on air. “The vice president had his flight delayed, though, and members of the pool that always travel with him did see some staff members and the vice president leave the plane and then the plane took off without them. What I am told, according to a senior administration official, is that the staffer who tested positive on the VP’s staff was not on the plane.”

US President Donald Trump listens as US Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 24, 2020, in Washington, DC (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump listens as US Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 24, 2020, in Washington, DC (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

The news comes one day after reports surfaced that a staffer in President Donald Trump’s office tested positive for the virus. The White House later confirmed the individual was a U.S. Navy member serving as one of Trump’s personal valets. Both Trump and Pence tested negative for coronavirus Thursday. (RELATED: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tests Positive For Coronavirus)

“We were recently notified by the White House Medical Unit that a member of the United States Military, who works on the White House campus, has tested positive for Coronavirus,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley said Thursday in a statement to the Daily Caller. “The President and the Vice President have since tested negative for the virus and they remain in great health.”

It has been White House policy for weeks to test Trump, Pence, and other senior officials on a weekly basis, but Thursday’s close call caused them to increase frequency to once per day. (RELATED: White House Bars Coronavirus Task Force Members From Testifying To Congress In May)

Trump received his first test after interacting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and a member of his senior staff, both of whom had coronavirus at the time. Trump tested negative then.