The White House confirmed that Robert O'Brien, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, has tested positive for COVID-19. O'Brien is, up to now, the highest rank among Trump officials to catch the virus.
"National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien tested positive for COVID-19. He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off-site. There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted," the White House said in a statement Monday morning.
While leaving the White House to visit a North Carolina facility responsible for producing a coronavirus vaccine, Trump commented on the event: "I haven’t seen him lately. I heard he tested. Yeah. I have not seen him. I’m calling him later." Trump said he ignored when did O'Brien first test positive.
It is still unknown when did O'Brien, who is 54, caught the coronavirus, and how much contact he recently had with the President. Their last common public appearance was on July 10 when they visited the U.S. Southern Command in Miami.
According to the White House, administration officials that are close to the President are frequently tested for COVID-19, and Trump himself always gets tested on a daily basis.
It is ought to mention that O'Brien is the highest-ranking official close to the president to contract the virus, however, he's not the first person connected to the Trump administration to test positive for the coronavirus.
There have been 16.2 million cases of the coronavirus worldwide since the pandemic began earlier this year, with 146,935 deaths in the U.S., according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
