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General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, listens during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington in September. Photo: AP

Top US general Mark Milley tests positive for coronavirus

  • The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has minor symptoms and is isolating and working remotely
  • Milley’s most recent contact with President Biden was on January 12; the general is vaccinated and has received his booster

US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday and is experiencing very minor symptoms while isolating and working remotely, a spokesman said on Monday.

Milley’s most recent contact with President Joe Biden was on January 12 at the funeral of retired general Raymond Odierno, the spokesman said.

Milley had tested negative several days before and each day following contact with Biden, until yesterday, the spokesman added. Milley is vaccinated and has received his booster.

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All other Joint Chiefs of Staff except for one tested negative for Covid-19, the spokesman said.

The other chief who tested positive, Commandant of the US Marine Corps General David Berger, will continue performing his duties unaffected, a Marine Corps spokesperson said.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month. He tested negative on January 9 and exited isolation to return to work at the Pentagon.

The US has been seeing infections surge from around the winter holiday season amid the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the virus, with daily new cases exceeding 1 million earlier this month.

Additional reporting by Kyodo

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