Thursday, 12 November 2020_Two more people who attended an Election Night party at the White House have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, bringing the current tally of COVID-19 cases from the event to at least five, NBC News reported Wednesday.
The newly reported cases from the party were of Brian Jack, the White House political affairs director, and of Healy Baumgardner, a former White House aide who now works in private equity.
Baumgardner attended the Nov. 3 event in the East Room at the White House as a guest of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Baumgardner told NBC News she tested positive on Wednesday. Two sources familiar with Jack confirmed his diagnosis.
Three other people who attended the party were diagnosed with COVID-19 after the event: White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, and David Bossie, who briefly directed President Donald Trump’s ongoing effort to challenge results of the election against President-elect Joe Biden.
A White House spokesman declined to comment to CNBC.
Before the most recent cases of coronavirus linked to the White House, at least 28 Trump administration and campaign officials had tested positive for Covid-19 in late September and early October.
They include Trump himself, first lady Melania Trump, their son Barron, White House adviser Hope Hicks, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, campaign manager Bill Stepien and aide Stephen Miller.
At least 14 of those infected this fall attended the Sept. 26 event at the White House Rose Garden for Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett.
Trump and top officials in his administration have been harshly criticized for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which currently is seeing more than 120,000 new cases per day in the United States. There have been more than 10.3 million coronavirus cases reported in the United States this year, with more than 240,000 deaths attributed to the virus.
Trump earlier this year predicted the virus would suddenly disappear one day, “like a miracle.”
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