Interior Secretary David Bernhardt tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, a department spokesman said.
This official thus joins the already
long list of members of the Administration of the president, Donald Trump, who were infected
.
Among them is included the president himself, who was hospitalized for three days in October due to this illness.
Bernhardt is currently asymptomatic, spokesman Nicholas Goodwin said.
He added, the Secretary of the Interior "will continue to work on behalf of the American people while in quarantine."
The peak of COVID-19 cases exacerbates the hospital crisis in several states of the country
Dec. 16, 202002: 44
The Washington Post was the first newspaper to report Bernhardt's positive.
The newspaper reported that the official was tested for the coronavirus before Trump held a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, and that he
did not attend that meeting
.
Now the Secretary of the Interior is complying with the sanitary protocols established when a person is diagnosed as having COVID-19, which includes
reconstructing the risk contacts
that a person has had positive, Goodwin said.
Bernhardt is 51 years old, the Post reports.
The Department of the Interior is dedicated to the administration of the country's natural resources and cultural heritage.
Rudy Giuliani leaves the hospital after three days hospitalized for coronavirus
Dec. 10, 202000: 17
Since late September, several Administration officials and others in Trump's orbit have fallen ill
, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Ben Carson, the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development.
Among the last to be infected in the environment of the president, who lost the elections in November and will cede the position to Democrat Joe Biden, current president-elect, is Rudy Giuliani, his personal lawyer.
The lawyer was hospitalized this month.
A few days later he assured that he had been discharged.
The United States is experiencing a tremendous phase of the pandemic.
This Wednesday the country set the
absolute record of positive cases (more than 230,000) and deaths (more than 3,200) in 24 hours
, according to the count of NBC News, Telemundo's sister network.
With information from NBC News, AP, The Washington Post.