Sadly, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson has tested positive to the coronavirus a spokesman told CNBC on Monday. Carson, 69, “is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery,” HUD deputy chief of staff Coalter Baker said in a statement.
The news came less than a week after it was revealed that President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, also tested positive for covid-19. Meadows had reportedly initially informed just a close group of advisors about his infection. Bloomberg first reported the diagnosis days later on Friday night.
The White House hosted an in-person, indoor party on election night. Meadows and Carson attended the event, according to Media reports. Carson had also been spotted without a mask at a Trump campaign rally in Michigan in Oct. 30.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate, is a member of the White House coronavirus task force.
The White House has come under heavy criticism for hosting large gatherings on its grounds in the midst of a pandemic. Numerous officials and others who work there, including Trump himself, have tested positive for the virus in the past two months.
Nick Trainer, a Trump campaign aide, also tested positive for the virus, NBC News confirmed.
Several people tested positive for Covid-19, including Trump advisors and U.S. senators, after they attended a September event at the White House celebrating the nomination of now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
The country’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, called the gathering a “super-spreader event.”