WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Vice President Mike Pence, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar speak after a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing at the Department of Health and Human Services on June 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. Cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are rising in southern and western states forcing businesses to remain closed. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)
Pence campaign events in Arizona and Florida postponed
01:48 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

Eight Secret Service agents assigned to Vice President Mike Pence’s detail ahead of his trip to Arizona tested positive for the coronavirus right before Pence was scheduled to travel there, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The positive tests forced a one-day delay in the trip so the Secret Service could swap in healthy agents, The Washington Post reported. Pence was scheduled to go to Arizona on Tuesday, but delayed the trip until Wednesday.

Ahead of Pence’s trip, the state was reporting record highs for both new daily cases and deaths since the state started posting data publicly in mid-March.

Secret Service Director of Communications Catherine Milhoan told CNN in a statement, “The health and safety of our workforce, their families, and that of our protectees remains the agency’s highest priority.” She said, ” The agency continues to operate in compliance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations through the U.S. Secret Service Office of Safety, Health and Environmental Programs.”

Pence’s trip originally included several more public stops, but the trip was scaled back, amid the recent spike of Covid cases in Arizona.

Dozens of Secret Service agents were quarantined as a precaution following President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month after two agents tested positive for the virus following that event, a law enforcement official told CNN. Eight Trump campaign staffers working the event also tested positive.

“Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Secret Service has been working with all of our public safety partners and the White House Medical Unit to ensure the safety and security of both our protected persons and our employees,” Milhoan said in a statement last month.