HUD Secretary Ben Carson tests positive for coronavirus

A spokesman for the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Dr.Ben Carson, said that the tests had tested positive for the Corona virus.

HUD Vice Chief of Staff Coulter Baker said in a statement that Carson, 69, “is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective treatments that aid in his recovery and significantly speed up his recovery.”

The news came less than a week after it was revealed that President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, was also positive for Covid-19. Meadows reportedly initially informed a group of advisers that he had been infected. Bloomberg I first reported the diagnosis later on Friday night.

The White House hosted an in-person indoor party on election night. Both Meadows and Carson attended the event, according to Media reports. Carson is also seen without a mask at a Trump rally in Michigan on October 30.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate, is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

The White House has come under fire for hosting large gatherings on its grounds amid a pandemic. Several officials and others working there, including Trump himself, have tested positive for the virus in the past two months.

NBC News confirmed that Nick Trainer, a Trump campaign aide, had tested positive for the virus.

Several people have tested positive for Covid-19, including Trump’s advisers and US senators, after attending an event in September at the White House to celebrate the nomination of now Supreme Court Justice Amy Connie Barrett.

The country’s chief infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, described the gathering as a “highly diffuse event”.

CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.