WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Seven U.S. Department of Defense staff who traveled to Hawaii last week for an official trip have tested positive for COVID-19, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
The staff were in Honolulu as part of Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks’ visit to the United States Indo-Pacific Command, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. Hicks tested negative.
The staff were tested following last week’s travel and are in quarantine, Kirby said, adding that the Pentagon was contacting all hotels, bases and other personnel who may have come in contact with the travelers.
Hicks stopped in Hawaii as part of a tour of U.S. military bases last week.
All staff on the trip followed CDC prevention guidelines, “including the stringent wearing of masks and social distancing where and when possible,” Kirby wrote.
(Reporting by Mike Stone; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Giles Elgood)
