Pompeo Tests Negative for CCP Virus After Exposure to Infected Person

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga., on Dec. 9, 2020. (Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been quarantining after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Pompeo tested negative, a State Department spokesperson said Dec. 16. He will quarantine in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, the spokesperson said in a statement. The department’s medical team is closely monitoring Pompeo, the spokesperson said.

The person who tested positive and came into contact with Pompeo isn’t being identified due to “reasons of privacy,” according to the spokesperson.

Several Trump administration officials have contracted the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Among them were White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and senior White House aide Stephen Miller.

About a month before Election Day, President Donald Trump himself tested positive for the virus and spent several days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, before he was released. First Lady Melania Trump, and son, Barron—as well as other White House officials—tested positive for the virus around the same time.

Also in November, Ben Carson, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), tested positive. He fully recovered after being treated at Walter Reed by the White House medical team.

The son of President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for COVID-19 in late November. While asymptomatic, he followed all medically recommended guidelines.

At least 28 members of Congress and more than 150 workers have tested positive for the CCP virus since the start of the pandemic. An aide to a U.S. congressman from Florida died this summer from the disease.

COVID-19 is caused by a virus that can trigger a respiratory illness, primarily among older people and those with compromised immune systems. A significant portion of all CCP virus patients show few or no symptoms, according to U.S. health officials. The vast majority of patients recover.

Jack Phillip, Gary Du, and Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.