An outbreak of COVID-19 has struck the White House — including the president himself — just weeks before the 2020 election.
Why it matters: If the president can get infected, anyone can. And the scramble to figure out the scope of this outbreak is a high-profile, high-stakes microcosm of America's larger failures to contain the virus and to stand up a contact-tracing system that can respond to new cases before they have a chance to become outbreaks.
COVID-19 positives
Wednesday, Sept. 30
- Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel
Thursday, Oct. 1
- White House communications aide Hope Hicks
- President Trump
- First lady Melania Trump
- Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah)
Friday, Oct. 2
- Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
- Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway
- Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien
Saturday, Oct. 3
- Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
- University of Notre Dame president John Jenkins, who attended the Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett's nomination
- Three unidentified White House reporters who attended the ceremony have also tested positive
- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
Sunday, Oct. 4
- Director of Oval Office operations Nick Luna
Monday, Oct. 5
- White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany
- Two unidentified White House communications aides
COVID-19 negatives (per most recent known test)
Friday, Oct. 2...
- Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and husband Doug Emhoff