US Secret Service staff self-isolating after Trump rally

Washington, June 25 (IANS) Dozens of US Secret Service personnel have been told to self-isolate after two who attended President Donald Trump’s re-election rally in Tulsa tested positive for COVID-19, according to media reports.

The BBC reported on Thursday citing a Washington Post report as saying that the the six advance team members who tested positive before the June 20 rally included two Secret Service personnel.

They both attended a planning meeting on June 19 along with dozens of other Secret Service agents and officers, who continued to carry out their duties after the test results were known, the report cited people familiar with the situation as saying.

Meanwhile,a law enforcement official told CNN that the number of agents in quarantine was in the “low” number of dozens.

Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan said the agency remained “prepared and staffed to fulfil all of the various duties as required”.

“Any implication that the agency is in some way unprepared or incapable of executing our mission would be inaccurate,” she added.

According to Tulsa’s fire department, about 6,200 people attended the event – a third of the capacity of the venue, the BBC reported.

But that was denied by the Trump campaign, which said twice as many people were inside.

It is not yet known if the rally will have an impact on infection rates in Tulsa.

But on Wednesday officials reported a record 259 new confirmed cases in the city.

With 2,380,452 cases and 121,969 deaths, the US continues with the world’s highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities as of Thursday.

–IANS

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