- Between eight and ten agents got sick while preparing for the trip, The Post reported.
- Secret Service agents had also fallen ill with COVID-19 while preparing for President Donald Trump's Tulsa, Oklahoma rally last month.
- It highlights the risks agents face while helping members of the Trump administration carry out in-person visits to coronavirus hot zones.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
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Mike Pence delayed a campaign event in Arizona after at least 8 Secret Service agents tested positive for the coronavirus while preparing for the trip
Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Arizona this week was delayed by a day after several of his Secret Service agents tested positive for or showed symptoms of the coronavirus, The Washington Post reported .
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Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Arizona was delayed a day this week after several of his Secret Service agents became sick with the coronavirus, two senior administration officials told The Washington Post on Thursday.
The vice president was scheduled to visit Arizona on Tuesday with members of the coronavirus task force, to speak with local officials as cases surged in the state.
But the trip was moved back a day when according to one source's estimates eight to 10 Secret Service agents in Arizona either tested positive for the coronavirus or showed symptoms of the illness while preparing for the trip.
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At least one agent on the ground in Arizona was confirmed positive with the coronavirus, and other agents and officials had showed symptoms of the illness, The Post reported, citing its sources.
Pushing the trip back to Wednesday allowed the Secret Service to bring in healthy agents to guard the vice president.
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This follows five Secret Service agents getting sick in the lead-up to President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma last month, and highlights the risks that agents face helping members of the Trump administration carry out in-person visits to coronavirus hot zones.
Coronavirus cases in Arizona are soaring, and Gov. Doug Ducey dialed back the state's reopening plans by ordering bars, gyms, movie theaters, water parks, and tubing businesses to close again.
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Many other hard-hit states, like Texas, Florida, and California, have also reimposed restrictions ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
Neither the White House nor the Secret Service immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment on Pence and the affected agents.
In a statement to The Post, Pence spokesman Devin O'Malley criticized the newspaper for "choosing to use its pages to report on a story of little use to every day Americans attempting to learn more about how coronavirus affects them or the Administration's response efforts."
Secret Service communications director Catherine Milhoan did not comment on the story, but said that "the health and safety of our workforce, their families, and that of our protectees remains the agency's highest priority."
In early May, Pence's spokeswoman Katie Miller also tested positive for the coronavirus , but recovered and returned to work later that month.
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NOW WATCH: Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown
See Also:
- How China killed Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement in less than a year, while the rest of the world was too weak to help
- Hong Kong police are arresting people who defied authorities to protest after China imposed a sweeping new national security law
- Russian influencers and bloggers say they were offered as much as $100,000 to support Putin's bid to extend his term to 2036
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