The Joint Chiefs of Employees, the highest navy advisers to the president, are heading into quarantine after a high Coast Guard official examined optimistic for the coronavirus.
The vice commandant of the US Coast Guard, Adm. Charles Ray, examined optimistic for the virus on Monday. Protection Division officers now say the chair and vice chair, together with the navy heads of the Military, Navy, Air Power, Coast Guard, Area Power, and US Cyber Command will isolate “out of an abundance of warning” after attending delicate Pentagon conferences with Ray. (The Marine Corps commandant wasn’t in these conferences.)
“All potential shut contacts from these conferences are self-quarantining and have been examined this morning,” Jonathan Hoffman, the highest Pentagon spokesperson, stated in a Tuesday assertion. “No Pentagon contacts have exhibited signs and we have now no further optimistic exams to report right now.”
Which implies that Covid-19 has now reached the very best echelons of the US navy. Whereas the Joint Chiefs aren’t within the chain of command, they do lead their respective companies and supply President Donald Trump with essential navy recommendation on key nationwide safety questions. If they will’t carry out their duties to their fullest skills, it makes America’s protection course of a bit more durable.
It’s nonetheless unclear how or the place Ray obtained contaminated, however he and different high brass attended the White Home’s reception for Gold Star households on Sunday, at which many contributors didn’t put on masks. That ceremony passed off a day after the White Home ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s Supreme Court docket choose, the place many on the occasion seemingly caught the virus. Trump examined optimistic for the coronavirus about 5 days after the general public Barrett reveal, requiring him to spend a number of days at Walter Reed medical middle.
Merely put, it’s simply not a very good search for a high navy official to probably have been contaminated throughout a White Home occasion. Ray reportedly felt unwell final Friday, which, in accordance with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, is roughly inside the common timeframe wherein signs start to point out after publicity.
Ray went on to attend conferences with Military Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chair, and different senior Pentagon officers final week in small safe areas. Among the officers who have been within the room with him are nonetheless awaiting the outcomes of their coronavirus exams.
In the meantime, one among Trump’s high navy aides, Jayna McCarron of the Coast Guard, additionally examined optimistic for the coronavirus on Tuesday together with an active-duty navy valet that traveled with the president across the time he introduced his optimistic coronavirus check.
Within the meantime, it’s a good suggestion for the Joint Chiefs to earn a living from home to maintain themselves and others secure. Milley, by advantage of being Trump’s high navy adviser, can nonetheless obtain labeled info and communications at dwelling.
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