Coronavirus: Two Trump staff members who attended rally test positive for Covid-19

President's campaign manager claims infected staffers wore face masks 'during the entire event'

Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign who contracted Covid-19 were in attendance at the president’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday after it was previously reported six other staffers working on the event tested positive for the novel virus.

The staffers who contracted the coronavirus were part of the campaign’s advance team, which plans the logistics for in-person events and rallies.

According to the campaign, the two staffers with previously unreported Covid-19 cases wore face masks to the president's speech. Less than 6,200 people attended the weekend rally, according to the Tulsa fire department, which was meant to mark the president’s return to the campaign trail despite the ongoing pandemic.

It wasn't exactly clear by Monday why the president's rally had such low turnout, despite the campaign initially claiming as many as one million people would be in the Tulsa area to witness Mr Trump's event, though the pandemic was likely a contributing factor. Other reports also indicated that teenagers on the social media app Tik Tok were participating in a viral prank against the Trump campaign, by reserving tickets to the event with no intention of actually going.

Regardless of the reason for the underwhelming turnout, health experts had been warning against the president's rally in the midst of the pandemic.

Nearly 120,000 Americans have died since the outbreak began earlier this year, and the rate of infections is meanwhile continuing to surge nationwide. At least 20 states have reported an increase in cases, with two million infections having already been confirmed across the country.

At least eight members of the president's staff tested positive for the virus, with six of those cases having been confirmed prior to the rally. Those with confirmed cases before Saturday did not attend the event, according to reports.

Two of the cases involved Secret Service agents tasked with working at the rally.

Brad Parscale, the president's re-election campaign manager, confirmed the cases in a statement on Monday that read: "These staff members attended the rally but were wearing masks during the entire event. Upon the positive tests, the campaign immediately activated established quarantine and contact tracing protocols."

The two staffers tested positive while attempting to fly home from Oklahoma, the campaign said.