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US President Donald Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced on Monday that she has contracted the coronavirus. She is the latest member of Donald Trump’s inner circle and senior Republican to come down with the virus in recent days. McEnany said issued a statement and posted it on Twitter. She had tested negative with no symptoms since the president tested positive. McEnany also confirmed she will continue working during her quarantine period. Point to be noted that no journalists are listed on her contact tracing information as having been in close contact with her. But, some reports were circulated saying 2 other press office members have diagnosed positive.

McEnany also presented a list of Covid-19 positive White House and Trump campaign officials. It includes the First Lady Melania Trump, West Wing aide Hope Hicks, Nick Luna, Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, and others. The White House officials have indicated President Trump first tested positive on Thursday night. But a report published on Sunday evening claiming his first positive test was found earlier that day. Trump said, “Don’t tell anybody”. He also knew Hicks had tested positive and wasn’t feeling well. McEnany said in her statement that she didn’t know about Hicks’ diagnosis. She said, “Moreover, I definitively had no knowledge of Hope Hicks’ diagnosis prior to holding a White House press briefing on Thursday”.

It is noteworthy that Hicks is one of the president’s closest aides. They reportedly talk multiple times a day and she often is a member of his traveling party. McEnany revived regular White House briefings, but her quarantine period, typically 14 days, means updates on the president’s health will continue to come from Trump’s medical team and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. However, they have contradicted each other and sown confusion for 2 days. McEnany has conducted the press briefings with no mask and chattered with reporters while not wearing a mask on Sunday in the White House speech.