There are concerns that more people within Pence's inner circle will test positive in the coming days, a source said. "They're scared," the source said of staffers in the vice president's office.
Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence each tested negative for coronavirus on Sunday, a White House official said. Despite contact with multiple people who recently tested positive, Mike Pence is refusing to quarantine in defiance of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Pence's office announced Saturday evening that Short had been diagnosed with Covid-19. Sources told CNN that Obst, who is a senior political adviser to Pence but is not a government employee, and at least three staffers in Pence's office have also tested positive for the virus.
Bauer, one of the staffers who tested positive, according to two sources familiar with the matter, is Pence's "body man," meaning his job is to accompany Pence throughout the day and night helping him with a wide range of duties, putting him in close proximity to the vice president. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Bauer has not been in the office since Tuesday, when he went home to quarantine after coming into contact with Obst. Bauer tested positive Saturday.
During an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows refused to disclose the extent of the Covid-19 outbreak in Pence's orbit, and he said Pence will be wearing a mask and social distancing when he resumes campaign travel Sunday despite his direct exposure to the virus.
Pence, who is known to rarely wear a mask while flying on Air Force Two, traveled on Saturday to Florida for campaign rallies in Lakeland and Tallahassee. The vice president walked across the tarmac from Marine Two in a mask and boarded Air Force Two about an hour behind schedule.
Pence emerged maskless from Air Force Two in Florida, running down the steps and jogging across the tarmac, fist pumping as he approached the podium. The vice president's office released the statement on Short moments after Pence landed back at Andrews Air Force Base.