Two positive COVID tests on trip with Secretary of State Antony Blinken were not disclosed
CBSN
Three cases of COVID-19 upended Secretary of State Antony Blinken's multi-nation trip this week — including two previously undisclosed cases among members of the Air Force flight crew. On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed the additional two positive cases among its personnel in response to inquiries from CBS News.
"Both aircrew members were fully vaccinated. Neither had come into close contact with the Secretary of State or Senior Staff," said Air Force spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick S. Ryder. "One air crew member is asymptomatic, while the other is experiencing mild symptoms."
At least one Air Force crew member tested positive for COVID-19 one day before a civilian passenger — a member of the traveling press corps — also tested positive and the trip was cut short, according to a senior State Department official.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.