Trump rally sparks self-quarantine of dozens of Secret Service agents

Dozens of Secret Service agents have been asked to quarantine as a safety precaution following President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., last week, according to multiple reports.

A law enforcement official told CNN that the number of agents in quarantine is in the “low” number of dozens. The move was first reported by The Washington Post.

Ahead of the event, the president’s campaign confirmed that six members of its advance team tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling to Tulsa. Two other staffers tested positive after the event.

Two of the six initial staffers included two Secret Service employees, according to The Washington Post.

One source told CNN that agents from Dallas and Houston who worked the campaign rally were warned in advance that they would have to quarantine after returning home.

The Secret Service field office in Tulsa arranged for a testing session at a hospital to determine if area agents and some local officials were infected with COVID-19, The Washington Post reported.

“The U.S. Secret Service remains prepared and staffed to fulfill all of the various duties as required. Any implication that the agency is in some way unprepared or incapable of executing our mission would be inaccurate,” U.S. Secret Service Director of Communications Catherine Milhoan told The Hill on Wednesday.

“To protect the privacy of our employees’ health information and for operational security, the Secret Service is not releasing how many of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19, nor how many of its employees were, or currently are, quarantined,” she continued.

Most of the attendees at the Saturday rally opted not to wear face masks, and social distancing measures were not enforced. Attendees were given temperature checks and hand sanitizer before entering the BOK Center, where the rally took place.

Last week, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany dismissed health concerns ahead of the indoor rally, and said that attendees would assume a “personal risk.”

The rally drew fewer than 6,200 people, according to the Tulsa Fire Department. 

The Hill has reached out to the U.S. Secret Service for comment.