Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant tests positive for coronavirus

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Web Desk
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Ivanka Trump. Photo: Reuters

Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and has become the third staff member in the White House to be affected by the infection, CNN reported on Saturday.

The assistant used to work in a personal capacity for US President Donald Trump's daughter but she had not been around his family members in several weeks.

According to the report, the assistant was not symptomatic and had been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution.

However, Ivanka Trump and her [assistant’s husband] husband Jared Kushner both tested negative after their tests were conducted as precautionary measures on Friday, the report highlighted.

The development comes a day after President Trump confirmed that Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller had tested positive for the coronavirus.

The White House has since started conducting daily tests for Pence and  Trump, and has claimed to be taking "every single precaution to protect the president".

Moreover, the US death toll is now over 76,000 with 1.32 million coronavirus cases reported so far.

Six members of Pence's team were abruptly taken off his plane, Air Force 2, after it was held on the tarmac outside Washington, DC for over an hour on Friday, as he prepared to travel to Iowa to meet religious leaders,  US media reported.