KEEPING IT QUIET

Secret Service Had COVID Outbreak, With 11 Infected in August, Watchdog Reports

The operatives were reportedly infected during training exercises and at an indoor graduation party where social distancing wasn’t observed.

At least 11 Secret Service employees at its training facility in rural Maryland tested positive for the coronavirus in August, it has been revealed. The operatives caught the highly contagious virus even though the agency had closed it for several months this year to enforce procedures to mitigate transmission. They are believed to have contracted the virus during training exercises and at a graduation celebration inside a nearby hotel, where social distancing was not observed, sources told the Project on Government Oversight, an independent watchdog group in Washington. The agency declined to discuss the specifics of the outbreak but said in a statement that it “has taken significant precautions at its training center to protect the health and welfare of its trainees and training staff.”