Top Pentagon officials quarantine

WASHINGTON—Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, are self-quarantining due to potential exposure. “No Pentagon contacts have exhibited symptoms, and we have no additional positive tests to report at this time,” Defense Department spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Tuesday. Officials do not believe Ray contracted COVID-19 in connection with the outbreak among President Donald Trump and White House staff. On Tuesday, Trump's speechwriter and senior adviser Stephen Miller also tested positive.

How is the president doing? Dr. Sean Conley on Tuesday said Trump was not exhibiting any symptoms of the coronavirus. Trump returned to the White House on Monday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The same day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say the coronavirus could spread more than 6 feet through the air, but airborne transmission is less common than passing it on through close contact.

Dig deeper: Read Dr. Charles Horton’s report about how to limit the indoor spread of COVID-19 as colder weather moves in.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.