Corona-positive Lithuania minister spreads panic at Pentagon

A senior US defense official tested positive for Covid-19 Thursday after meeting last week in Washington with Lithuania's defense chief, who later also tested positive for the virus, the Pentagon said.

Spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said that the Pentagon was informed Thursday that Lithuanian Minister of Defence Raimundas Karoblis, who visited Washington on November 13, was infected with the coronavirus.

During his visit Karoblis met with the new US Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, and the secretaries of the army, navy and air force. So far Miller and the others have tested negative.

But Anthony Tata, who President Donald Trump installed earlier this month to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy, also joined the meetings, and he showed positive for coronavirus in two tests taken Thursday.

Tata is now quarantining at home for 14 days, Hoffman said.

However, because standard Covid mitigation guidelines were followed during Miller's meeting with Karoblis and meetings with Tata, Miller "is not quarantining," Hoffman said.

Hoffman said the Department of Defense continues to conduct further contact tracing of department personnel who had close contact with the Lithuanian delegation or Tata.