While there has been much focus on Saturday's White House nomination events for Amy Coney Barrett, they might not have been the only weekend events at the White House that spread COVID-19.
"On the same day President Trump acknowledged contracting the coronavirus, the White House quietly informed a veterans group that there was a COVID-19 risk stemming from a Sept. 27 event honoring the families of fallen U.S. service members, the head of that charitable organization told The Daily Beast. The White House warning, which came on Oct. 2, is the earliest known outreach to visitors of the complex that there was a risk of coronavirus emerging from the grounds where the president, the first lady, and at least 17 of his aides, according to Politico, have now tested positive for the virus," The Daily Beast reported Wednesday.
"The Sept. 27 event to honor Gold Star families came the day after the White House hosted a celebration for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that appears to have been an early source of the White House outbreak, though West Wing officials have quietly disputed that linkage. It is unclear to the head of the veterans charity—the Greatest Generations Foundation—which participant's potential positive coronavirus test sparked the warning," The Beast noted.
Photos release by the White House show maskless individuals sitting closely together.
Multiple photos show Trump, who has since tested positive, sitting maskless among the families.
"The White House Medical Unit has taken the lead on contact tracing but the public liaison’s office’s communication with individuals from the Gold Star family event underscores the extent to which multiple different officials in the White House were concerned about visitors’ exposure," The Beast reported. "The White House has repeatedly said that it only contacts individuals who may have come within six feet of a White House personnel member in the 48 hours preceding their positive test. The outreach to Davis raises questions about whether there were any COVID-positive individuals in attendance at the event. Trump’s top aide, Hope Hicks, tested positive September 30, three days after the gathering and pictures from the ceremony do not show her in the audience."
