Navy’s top officer to self-quarantine

May 10, 2020 at 11:12 PM EDT
Navy’s top officer to self-quarantine after contact with family member who tested positive


FILE PHOTO: Navy Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, arrives to testify to the Senate Armed Services Committee about military housing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
Adm. Michael Gilday, the Navy’s top officer, will be self-quarantining this week after coming into contact with a family member who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Department of Defense confirmed Sunday.
Gilday, 57, has tested negative, a Defense Department spokesman told The Washington Post in a statement. According to CNN, the chief of naval operations was tested Friday but still did not attend a Saturday meeting at the White House with other senior military leaders and President Trump.
Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was also not at the meeting, CNN reported.
Lengyel tested positive for covid-19 on Saturday afternoon, but a subsequent test that same day came back negative, the Defense Department spokesman told The Post.
“He will undergo a third test on Monday morning to confirm his negative status,” the spokesman said.
The news about Gilday and Lengyel comes amid heightened fears about the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak at the White House, where two staffers — Vice President Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, and an unidentified personal valet to Trump — recently tested positive.
Gilday joins the growing list of politicians and administration officials who have announced that they are self-quarantining after potentially being exposed to the virus.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said they would self-quarantine or telework for two weeks because of exposure to a coronavirus case at the White House, The Post reported Saturday. On Sunday, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said he would be self-quarantining “out of an abundance of caution” after one of his staff members tested positive.
Meanwhile, others including Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, are taking greater precautions but will not completely isolate themselves.
Dan Lamothe and Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.