ABC News has confirmed at least five individuals in Vice President Mike Pence’s orbit have tested positive for COVID-19. Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News that in addition to an outside political ally of the vice president, four of his staffers are positive, including Chief of Staff Marc Short and political aide Marty Obst. One senior-level source stresses the three additional staffers have been quarantining since this past week. Among those three staffers is Pence’s “body man,” a position that often represents an individual who is the closest aide to the office holder.
This is the second time someone close to Vice President Pence has tested positive for the coronavirus. Katie Miller, Pence’s press secretary and wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, tested positive for COVID-19 in May. The vice president’s press secretary said both Pence and wife Karen Pence tested negative for the virus on Saturday, and a press report indicated they tested negative again on Sunday morning. The vice president’s spokesperson said Monday morning that Pence and his wife had again tested negative.
Pence, the head of the White House coronavirus task force, has been crisscrossing the country on the campaign trail for weeks and his office says will continue his schedule, despite the close contact with his chief of staff. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone who’s had contact with a person known to be infected with COVID-19 should quarantine for 14 days, to ensure they don’t spread the virus should they also be infected.
Five people close to Vice President Pence have tested positive for COVID-19
