About a dozen employees at a Secret Service training center had the coronavirus in August, The New York Times reports.
Officials with knowledge of the outbreak told the newspaper that at least 11 employees at the Maryland facility tested positive for the virus. The facility had closed down for several months to help mitigate the spread of the virus. When it reopened, it implemented safety protocols.
According to sources, the employees who contracted the virus did so during training exercises and during a graduation celebration inside a nearby hotel where they did not practice social distancing.
The agency put out a statement noting that it “has taken significant precautions at its training center to protect the health and welfare of its trainees and training staff.”
Secret Service spokeswoman Julia McMurray said classes are held outdoors, there are temperature checks, and agents have to wear personal protective equipment when participating in close-contact drills.
“Any U.S. Secret Service employee who may have tested positive would have been immediately isolated and returned home and out of the working environment. Considerations would also be taken to ensure the least amount of contact with the public,” McMurray said.
The outbreak was first discovered by the Project on Government Oversight, which is an independent watchdog group. The group then brought their intelligence to The New York Times. The newspaper then confirmed the details.
The report comes hours after President Donald Trump announced at about 1 a.m. Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus.
The Secret Service previously had several members contract the virus. At least two members who helped prepare for the president’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tested positive for the virus in June. In July, Vice President Mike Pence was forced to change his travel plans in Arizona after multiple agents tested positive or exhibited symptoms of the virus.
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