Space Force

Top Space Force General Tests Positive for COVID-19

The second highest ranking officer of the Space Force is in self-quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, the agency announced Wednesday

In this May 17, 2020, file photo, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
AP Photo/John Raoux

Gen. David D. Thompson, the vice chief of Space Force Operations, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.

In a statement, the agency said Thompson, who is the second highest ranking officer of the Space Force, was tested after learning that someone he'd recently seen in his family tested positive for the virus.

Thompson is now in quarantine and will continue to work from home.

"The Department of the Air Force continues to follow established DoD and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policies and guidelines for COVID," the statement said. "Measures include temperature testing, social distancing to the greatest extent possible, the wearing of masks when social distancing is not possible, and contact tracing and quarantining, if needed."

Over the course of the pandemic, the U.S. government has seen several outbreaks amongst its agencies and even the White House.

Last week, at least five staff members for Vice President Mike Pence tested positive for the coronavirus.

A new model from the University of Washington shows that half a million Americans could die of the coronavirus by February 2021. But researchers say that if Americans universally wore masks, nearly 130,000 of these lives could be saved.

And earlier in October, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and several other politicians and Trump administration officials were diagnosed with COVID-19.

Just a few days later, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Gary L. Thomas, tested positive for the virus after he and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were in a Pentagon meeting with a Coast Guard leader who was infected with the virus.

Thompson's diagnosis came the same day the U.S. topped more than 80,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time.

Staff, AP
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