Several employees of US Vice President Mike Pence tested positive

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Marc Short and Mike Pence

Photo: Mike Segar / REUTERS

US Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The test at Pence himself was negative and he wanted to stick to his program with campaign appearances, said Pence's spokesman on Sunday night.

His chief of staff Short is now in quarantine.

In addition, the Pence consultant Marty Obst and two other employees from the close environment of Pence had tested positive.

Two people who were briefed said White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had tried to prevent news of the outbreak from being published, according to a report in the New York Times.

It is the second time that the top US government has been hit directly by the pandemic.

President Donald Trump and various White House employees tested positive only earlier this month.

Trump recovered from his Covid 19 disease after being treated with an antibody drug that was still experimental, among other things.

The final spurt of the US election campaign is still characterized by the steep increase in corona cases.

A record was set with more than 83,000 new infections in one day.

More than 900 Americans died on Saturday, with the total death toll surpassing 224,000.

Trump, who many voters in polls do not trust to master the corona crisis, consistently downplayed the pandemic in the face of the poor numbers.

"I had it, here I am," announced Trump, alluding to his Covid 19 disease, during one of the campaign appearances.

"And now they say I'm immune."

Trump had been treated, among other things, with a still experimental antibody drug that he called a "cure".

At each of the appearances, he also said that his 14-year-old son Barron had been declared healthy by the doctors shortly after the positive test.

In the three speeches, Trump gave three variants of how quickly it went: after 15 seconds, after 15 minutes and the next day.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden again accused Trump of failing in the corona crisis that cost the lives of Americans.

He called on people to wear masks.

"It will be a gloomy winter if we don't change our behavior," he said.

"And all because the president is more concerned about the stock market than about you," Biden said to the voters.

Unlike Trump, Biden spoke to people who came to the election campaign events with their vehicles like in a drive-in cinema.

They expressed their approval with a concert of horns.

At one of the performances, rock star Jon Bon Jovi gave a mini concert.

A new commercial for Biden, which premiered on Saturday, was voiced by Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.

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jat / dpa