Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson tested positive for Covid-19 Monday morning, a HUD official confirmed to POLITICO.
Carson went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center “briefly” after experiencing symptoms, said the official, who declined to discuss which symptoms the secretary had.
He is the latest Trump administration official to contract the virus, following a cluster of infections last month, when President Donald Trump was hospitalized.
Carson on Tuesday attended the White House’s election night party, held indoors in the East Room. Other high-ranking Trump officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, were among the hundreds of mostly unmasked guests.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, another attendee, has also tested positive in the days since the party. Bloomberg reported that “at least five other White House officials” have come down with the virus in recent days.
Carson “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.
