The number of people connected to the White House coronavirus cluster is now at 34 — much higher than previously known. That’s according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency memo obtained by ABC News. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Sunday the Trump administration would no longer report on the number of infections linked to the White House outbreak. McEnany went on to test positive for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports the head of the White House security office, Crede Bailey, is gravely ill with COVID-19 and has been hospitalized since September — though the White House did not disclose Bailey’s illness.
California Democratic Congressmember Salud Carbajal says he developed COVID-19 this week after a likely infection by his next-door neighbor, Utah Senator Mike Lee. Lee tested positive for coronavirus last Friday after he was filmed hugging guests at a September 26 Rose Garden celebration for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
Attorney General William Barr returned to his office at the Justice Department Wednesday, according to a spokesperson who said Barr has tested negative for coronavirus six times since Friday. Barr was filmed wiping his nose with his hand and then shaking hands at the Rose Garden event, where he was in close contact with Kellyanne Conway and other infected people.
In New Jersey, former Governor Chris Christie remains hospitalized with COVID-19, with no word on his condition.
President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday he’s taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off a COVID-19 infection after spending hours last week with President Trump, Chris Christie and other officials who have since tested positive. Hydroxychloroquine was once touted by Trump as a miracle cure, though clinical studies show it has no effect treating COVID-19 and has potentially lethal side effects. Giuliani is not quarantining and says he’ll take another coronavirus test on Friday. On Tuesday, he appeared maskless as he addressed a crowd of dozens of people at a GOP fundraiser in Manhattan. A day earlier, Giuliani coughed his way through an interview on Fox News.