Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja with agency report
Three journalists who work at the White House tested positive to Covid-19 on Friday, a series of memos from the White House Correspondents Association has revealed.
Since President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, the outbreak of the virus at the White House has left members of the media scrambling and self-isolating.
The outbreak has equally led to widespread concern among White House reporters about who was exposed.
The correspondents association, in an email to members Friday night added: “Given these positive cases, the president’s diagnosis and positive cases among other members of the White House staff, a number of White House journalists are self-isolating pending diagnostic testing.”
Friday’s first memo, obtained by CNN Business, said members of the press corps were being notified “so that you can make informed judgements.”
The late morning memo said that “all other journalists tested today tested negative”; while a followup message at 1:33 p.m. carried word of another case of a sick journalist.
“We are writing to let you know that another member of our press corps tested positive today for COVID-19,” the memo said. “This individual was last at the White House on Saturday and subsequently traveled on Air Force One to Pennsylvania. The individual began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms yesterday.”
Also, White House staffer who sits in the “lower press” area of the West Wing also received a confirmed positive result on Friday morning.
Reporters and White House spokespeople work together in cramped quarters, often meeting the definition of close contact.
President Trump’s Campaign Manager, Bill Stepien, has also tested positive for coronavirus.
Stepien became the latest figure in the President’s inner circle to be infected with Covid-19.
He received the results of the test on Friday night and is suffering from what the official described as “mild flu-like” symptoms.
Stepien traveled to Cleveland with the President and his team on Tuesday for the first presidential debate and was seen in close proximity to Hope Hicks, the President’s top aide who also tested positive.
Kellyanne Conway, a former counselor to President Trump, on Friday also said she had tested positive for COVID-19. Conway was one of those who attended a Rose Garden event last Saturday where President Trump announced his Supreme Court pick.
