A personal aide to Ivanka Trump has tested positive for COVID-19, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
However, the sources said the aide is not a White House employee, has not been in contact with her for well over a month and has not been near the West Wing.
The news comes after Katie Miller, press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence, and a member of President Donald Trump’s personal valet each tested positive.
– HHS announces delivery of remdesivir
The Department of Health and Human Services announced the agency is sending out more remdesivir to hospitalized patients after a week of frustration from doctors who said they couldn’t access it.
Remdesivir will be used to treat patients with COVID-19 and has been touted by both President Donald Trump and infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci as promising, based on early data. The drug was donated by Gilead, which developed it, and will be delivered to Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey, according to the HHS.
Illinois and New Jersey will receive the biggest shipments, with 140 cases and 110 cases respectively, according to the agency. Each case contains 40 vials of the drug.
The shipments, which began Thursday evening, come after doctors said they could not access the drug and it was not being delivered to the hospitals that needed it most.
Remdesivir initially was developed by Gilead to treat Ebola. Although initially promising, it didn’t prove as effective as other Ebola treatments, so research was halted. Early data from the drug used for COVID-19 patients has been promising, but experts warned that data is still limited.
