White House chief of staff reportedly tests positive for coronavirus

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows greets supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Reading Regional Airport in Reading Pennsylvania, Oct. 31. REUTERS-Yonhap

Mark Meadows, the top aide to US President Donald Trump, has become the latest person in the White House inner circle to contract COVID-19, CNN and The New York Times reported Friday.

Two more presidential staffers also tested positive, CNN cited officials as saying.

The US is seeing record daily case numbers this week, with more than 120,000 reported Friday alone. The virus has infected more than 9.5 million people in the country and resulted in over 234,000 deaths, both world-leading tolls.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows walks on the South Lawn before U.S. President Donald J. Trump departs the White House in Washington, DC, Oct. 30, heading for political rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. EPA-Yonhap

Meadows, the White House chief of staff, was with Trump, Tuesday,?Election?Day, at a meeting with Republican Party employees.

He is often seen without a mask, though he has increasingly worn a face covering since Trump himself got ill with the new coronavirus.

The president spent three nights in hospital last month, during a key part of his re-election campaign. A number of White House staffers also tested positive around the same time, amid speculation that a well-attended White House event was a source of the outbreak. (DPA)