Covid: US military leaders quarantine after official tests positive

Top US General Mark Milley and other military leaders are self-quarantining after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for coronavirus.

Admiral Charles Ray, the vice commandant of the US Coast Guard, tested positive after experiencing mild symptoms.

Other officials were quarantining “out of an abundance of caution” after attending meetings with Adm Ray last week, the Pentagon said.

None of them had tested positive or exhibited symptoms, it added.

It is not known how Adm Ray contracted the virus. The admiral attended an event at the White House about 10 days ago but it is not clear if he contracted the virus there or elsewhere, officials told the Associated Press news agency.

US President Donald Trump and other White House officials have tested positive for coronavirus in recent days.

The Coast Guard said in a statement that Adm Ray tested positive on Monday and was now isolating at home. It added that any Coast Guard personnel who were in close contact with him would also quarantine.

BBC partner CBS News reported that nearly all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – a body consisting of senior military officials who advise the US president – were in quarantine after attending meetings with Adm Ray last week.

In addition to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen Milley, it said others in quarantine included the vice chief of staff, Army chief of staff, chief of naval operations, Air Force chief of staff, CyberCom commander, the Space Force chief, chief of the National Guard and deputy commandant of the Marine Corps.

(BBC)