Interior Department Confirms 35 Staffers Have Died of COVID-19

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks at an event in Washington on July 29, 2021. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Native Organizers Alliance

An Interior Department spokesperson has confirmed that, as of Aug. 6, 35 of its employees have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

After Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland said in a video address taped earlier in the week that 34 staffers at the agency had died from COVID-19, the department’s communications director, Melissa Schwartz, wrote on a Twitter on Aug. 6 that one more person had died, bringing the tally to 35.