Another Rose Garden Attendee Tests Positive

Trish Scalia, wife of labor secretary, sat beside Kellyanne Conway
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 14, 2020 6:21 AM CDT
Another Rose Garden Attendee Tests Positive
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia and his wife Patricia depart after paying respects Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose under the Portico at the top of the front steps of the US Supreme Court building on Sept. 23.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The wife of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who attended the Rose Garden event where Amy Coney Barrett was announced as President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Patricia "Trish" Scalia sat behind first lady Melania Trump and next to former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, with her husband on her left side. Trump and Conway were one of at least 12 attendees to test positive in the aftermath, per CNN. Dr. Anthony Fauci has referred to the gathering as a "superspreader" event. By Politico's count, 35 aides and allies of the president had tested positive as of Thursday.

However, it's not clear if Scalia contracted the virus—which has an incubation period of up to 14 days—at the ceremony on Sept. 26. In a statement released Tuesday night, the Labor Department said doctors had confirmed the diagnosis "this afternoon." It's not known when Scalia last tested negative. She's "experiencing mild symptoms but doing well," according to the statement. The department said the secretary, who is the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, had tested negative on Tuesday night. He's experiencing no symptoms but will work from home "for the time being," the statement said. (More coronavirus stories.)

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