Top White House Aide Stephen Miller Tests Positive for COVID-19 as President Donald Trump Returns Home From Hospital

After spending three days at the Walter Reed Medical Center, President Donald Trump finally returned back to the White House on Monday, October 5. He made the announcement of his return on Twitter with a short video where he addressed his followers saying he was feeling much better.

He said, "I just left Walter Reed Medical Center, and it's really something very special. The doctors, the nurses, the first responders, and I learned so much about coronavirus."

He continued, "And one thing that's for certain: don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're gonna beat it. We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines, all developed recently. And you're gonna beat it."

However, the usually bustling White House was silent as the West Wing has become a zone of viral contagion, according to CNN. His aides and allies are either working from home, like his daughter Ivanka Trump, or they have been infected by the novel coronavirus. According to the report at least 20 aides or allies of the President have contracted the highly contagious virus with Stephen Miller being the latest one.

The New York Times reported that according to the confirmation by the senior administration officials, Miller, who's President Trump's policy adviser and top speechwriter has tested positive for COVID-19. While the aides work towards keeping the President isolated from the rest of the house and the West Wing, the list of infected people at the White House keeps growing.

Miller too confirming the news of his condition said in a statement, “Over the last five days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday. Today, I tested positive for Covid-19 and am in quarantine.” He is the husband of Vice Vice President Mike Pence’s communications director, Katie Miller who had tested positive for the virus too but returned to work in May.

While the White House offices were empty on Tuesday, October 6, President Trump was at the residence recovering. Medical gowns, respirator masks, and goggles were supplied to the medical staff who are in close proximity to the President.

Before Miller, Kayleigh McEnany, White House's press secretary also announced on Monday that she had tested positive for the virus. According to The Cut, White House advisor Kellyanne Conway also tweeted about her testing positive on October 2 where she wrote of having "mild" symptoms but assured that she was "feeling fine."

She wrote, “I have begun a quarantine process in consultation with physicians.”

The coronavirus outbreak at the White House has become concerning for people in the city as it has affected some lawmakers on the Capitol Hill as well.

Washington, D.C., was successful in bringing down infection rates in the past few weeks through high rates of compliance and preventive laws but the White House situation is turning out to be a huge matter of concern since it involves the President, first lady Melania Trump, and everyone who's been in close contact with them.

City officials have stated that they would be keeping a close eye on the infection rates of the Capitol Hill and White House cases in order to analyze if it has affected the overall infection rate of the city. 105 new cases were reported on Tuesday, October 6, which is the highest since June 3.

References:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313267615083761665

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/05/politics/trump-white-house-coronavirus-diagnosis/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/06/us/trump-covid-live-updates

https://www.thecut.com/2020/10/a-running-list-of-covid-positive-trump-associates.html