Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said he anticipated more cases to come.
“I fully expect that, as this virus continues to go on, other people in the White House will certainly have a positive test result,” he told reporters.
Yet multiple cases have already been confirmed among those who have had close contact with Trump and his close advisor, Hope Hicks, whose diagnosis prompted the test that confirmed Trump had the virus.
Many of those people attended a Sept. 26 event in the White House Rose Garden where Trump officially nominated Amy Coney Barrett for the U.S. Supreme Court. Nearly a dozen more were involved in setting up the president’s first debate with Joe Biden on Sept. 29.
Here’s who has tested positive so far.
Melania Trump
First lady Melania Trump’s diagnosis was announced along with Donald Trump’s by the president on Oct. 1.
Melania tweeted later in the day that she is experiencing “mild symptoms but overall feeling good.” She did not travel with her husband to Walter Reed Medical Center, instead quarantining inside the White House residency.
She attended Barrett’s nomination ceremony in the Rose Garden on Saturday and has been travelling with the president since then.
Barron Trump
Donald and Melania Trump’s 14-year-old son Barron tested positive shortly after his parents announced their diagnoses, Melania revealed in a statement on Oct. 14.
On Oct. 2 Barron was reported to have tested negative; however in the following days the teen tested positive, Melania said.
According to Melania, her son is “a strong teenager” and “exhibited no symptoms.”
“In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together,” the statement reads. “He has since tested negative.”
Kellyanne Conway
Trump’s former campaign manager and counsellor to the president Kellyanne Conway confirmed she tested positive late on Oct. 2.
In a tweet, Conway said she is experiencing mild symptoms including a light cough, and she is “feeling fine.”
“I have begun a quarantine process in consultation with physicians,” she wrote. “As always, my heart is with everyone affected by this global pandemic.”
Conway attended the Rose Garden event Saturday, and was seen speaking without a mask to others in the crowd, including Attorney General William Barr.
She left the White House in August to spend more time with her family.
Kayleigh McEnany
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced on Oct. 5 she had tested positive for COVID-19.
In a tweet, McEnany said she was experiencing “no symptoms” and would begin her quarantine process.
The press secretary, who regularly briefs reporters without a mask, said she would continue to work remotely.
Aides to Kayleigh McEnany
Four assistant press secretaries who work directly with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany — Karoline Leavitt, Chad Gilmartin, Harrison Fields and Jalen Drummond — have tested positive, according to multiple media reports.
Leavitt, the principle assistant press secretary, and Gilmartin, who serves as deputy assistant press secretary, tested positive on Oct. 5, according to NBC News and Bloomberg.
Drummond’s diagnosis was confirmed by Bloomberg and CBS News, while Fields’ was confirmed by ABC News and the New York Times, among others.
Leavitt and Gilmartin attended the Rose Garden event on Sept. 26, according to the New York Times.
Stephen Miller
Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to Trump, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to U.S. media reports.
In a statement to CNN on Oct. 6, Miller said he had been working remotely and self-isolating for the last five days, “testing negative every day through yesterday.”
“Today, I tested positive for COVID-19 and am in quarantine,” the statement reads.
A senior administration official also confirmed to NBC Miller tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien
Bill Stepien, who has been managing Trump’s re-election campaign since July, has tested positive, a campaign spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press and Politico on Oct. 2.
Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh has confirmed the news, which was first reported by Politico.
Politico said Stepien received his diagnosis Friday and is experiencing “mild flu-like symptoms.”
Stepien, who joined Trump at Tuesday’s first presidential debate, plans to quarantine until he recovers.
Sen. Mike Lee
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said in a statement on Oct. 2 that he tested positive the day before, after experiencing symptoms “consistent with longtime allergies.”
He said he will be quarantining for the next 10 days and will be working from home.
Lee also attended Barrett’s nomination ceremony and was seen on camera hugging other attendees without wearing a mask.
In addition, Lee sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has been tasked with holding the hearings to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Lee assured in his statement that he will be back to work in time for those hearings, which are scheduled to begin on Oct. 12.
Sen. Thom Tillis
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican, said on Oct. 2 that his COVID-19 test came back positive.
“Thankfully, I have no symptoms and feel well,” he said, while urging his constituents to follow public health guidelines to limit the virus’ spread.
Like Lee, Tillis attended the Rose Garden ceremony for Barrett and sits on the Judiciary Committee. Unlike Lee, Tillis wore a mask at the event.
Yet Tillis also participated in a televised debate with the Democratic challenger for his Senate seat, Cal Cunningham, two days prior to the Rose Garden event.
Sen. Ron Johnson
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s office announced he had tested positive for the virus in a statement on Oct. 3.
Johnson, a second-term Republican, reported being exposed to someone with COVID-19 last month — later identified as his chief of staff — and quarantined for 14 days without developing symptoms. He said he tested negative twice during that time.
Johnson returned to Washington, D.C, on Tuesday and said he was exposed soon after that to someone else who tested positive. He said he was tested Friday after learning of the exposure and tested positive.
Johnson did not attend the Rose Garden event for Barrett on Sept. 26.
White House journalists
So far, four members of the White House press pool have tested positive.
The first three cases were announced in a statement from White House Correspondents Association president and Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller. The names of the journalists have not been released.
At least one of those journalists attended the Rose Garden event on Saturday, while another had travelled with the president through the weekend. The third attended Trump’s press conference on Sunday.
On Oct. 8, a statement from the WHCA board said a fourth member of the press corps had tested positive with a rapid test and was awaiting the results of a second test. The journalist was last at the White House on Oct. 1, according to the statement.
Several other members of the press corps are self-isolating as they await testing. White House medical staff are conducting contact tracing for the positive cases, Miller said.
“We ask that if you were on the White House grounds or in the pools those days, that you pay extra attention to any changes in your health,” he told members in a statement.
Trish Scalia
The wife of U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the department confirmed on Oct. 13.
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In a news release, the U.S. Labor Department said Trish Scalia is “experiencing mild symptoms” of COVID-19, but is “doing well.”
According to the release, Eugene Scalia was tested for the virus Tuesday evening and the results were negative.
Both Eugene and Trish Scalia were in attendance at the Sept. 26 Rose Garden event.
Notre Dame University president John Jenkins
An email from Notre Dame University staff on Oct. 2 confirmed its president, Rev. John Jenkins, tested positive after a colleague of his was diagnosed.
Jenkins was already in quarantine when he was tested this week after attending the Rose Garden ceremony for Barrett, who earned her law degree from Notre Dame University and was a faculty member there.
In a statement posted on the university’s website shortly after the event, Jenkins said he made an “error of judgment” by not wearing a mask during the ceremony, and by shaking hands with a number of people in the Rose Garden.
“I failed to lead by example, at a time when I’ve asked everyone else in the Notre Dame community to do so,” he wrote. “I especially regret my mistake in light of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by many, particularly our students, in adjusting their lives to observe our health protocols.”
Hope Hicks
Hope Hicks, one of the president’s most trusted and longest-serving confidantes, began feeling mild symptoms during the plane ride home from a Trump re-election campaign rally in Duluth, Minn., on Sept. 30, an administration official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
She was isolated from other passengers aboard the plane and her diagnosis was confirmed on Oct. 1, the person said.
Hicks, who serves as counsellor to the president, also accompanied him and other senior aides to the first presidential debate in Cleveland on Sept. 29.
She was frequently seen not wearing a mask at several of these debates, while those around her — including members of the president’s family — also did not have their faces covered.
Debate prep staff
According to a statement from the City of Cleveland on Oct. 1, 11 people involved with the planning and set-up of the first presidential debate between Trump and Joe Biden have tested positive.
The debate was held at in an open-air pavilion shared by the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. While those who attended the debate on behalf of Biden wore masks in the audience, most of those with Trump did not.
Some of those cases are people from outside Ohio who may be continuing to travel, the city said.
Republican Party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel
An official with the Republican National Convention confirmed on Oct. 2 to multiple media outlets, including the Associated Press, that party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tested positive Wednesday.
The official said McDaniel has been at her home in Michigan since Sept. 26 and did not attend the Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 or the debate on Sept. 29.
The New York Times reported McDaniel was last seen with the president on Sept. 25 — one week before Trump tested positive — although the GOP have yet to confirm when the two were last in person together.
Chris Christie
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said on Oct. 3 that he will be receiving “medical attention” after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
“I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two,” he said on Twitter.
Christie initially said that he was experiencing no symptoms. He later spent a week in hospital getting treated for COVID-19, finally leaving for home on Oct. 10.
According to multiple U.S. media reports, Christie was on the team that helped Trump prepare for the presidential debate on Sept. 29. He also attended the Rose Garden event on Sept. 26.
Nicholas Luna
An assistant to Trump, Nicholas Luna, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to U.S. media reports.
A report from Bloomberg, which first reported news of Luna’s diagnosis, said Luna tested positive less than 24 hours after Trump was hospitalized for COVID-19.
Global News has reached out to the White House to confirm when exactly Luna tested positive for the virus but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Luna works as a “body man” and assistant to the president, working in close proximity and accompanying Trump to various events.
Military members
Multiple members of the U.S. military have tested positive for the coronavirus as well.
The second most senior official of the Coast Guard, Admiral Charles Ray, tested positive on Oct. 5, according to a statement from the Guard.
Ray had attended meetings the week before at the Pentagon, where multiple senior officials are now in self-isolation for fears they also contracted the virus.
He also attended an indoor White House event on Sept. 27 honouring Gold Star military families, which Trump had also attended.
On Oct. 7, the Marine Corps confirmed that Gen. Gary L. Thomas tested positive for COVID-19. Thomas had also attended Pentagon meetings at the same time as Ray.
Greg Laurie
Greg Laurie, a prominent evangelical Christian pastor, revealed on Oct. 5 that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
In a video posted to Twitter, Laurie said he he experienced fatigue, aches and pains and fever before receiving his diagnosis.
Laurie attended the Rose Garden event on Sept. 26 in support of Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination.
This list will be updated if more cases are confirmed.
— With files from Kerri Breen and Hannah Jackson, Global News
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