Gilday, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not present at a White House meeting of senior military leaders on Saturday, which included several cabinet members. He will self-quarantine this week after coming in contact with a family member who tested positive for the virus.
Another high-ranking military leader, National Guard Bureau Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, tested positive on Saturday in a rapid COVID-19 test, and then negative after another test was administered the same day. Lengyel is also in self-quarantine and is scheduled to take another test on Monday, a Defense Department spokesman said on Sunday.
Lengyel learned of the positive result immediately before he was to meet with President Donald Trump and the joint chiefs, and was absent from the White House meeting which was to include Gilday.
The information that Lengyel and Gilday may have had encounters with the virus came days after two White House staffers tested positive, raising suggestions of an outbreak within the inner circle of the White House.
At Saturday's meeting with Trump, those in attendance, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper, practiced no social distancing protocols and none wore masks.
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