Acting SecDef, service secretaries exposed to COVID-19 after top civilian tests positive

WASHINGTON — A top Pentagon civilian has tested positive for COVID-19 after meeting with a foreign dignitary — who may have also exposed acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller as well as the top civilians from the Air Force, Navy and Army, Defense News has learned.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis met with Miller, the service secretaries and retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary for policy, during a Nov. 13 visit to the Pentagon. Upon returning to Vilnius this week, he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Miller, as well as Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, who met with Karbolis Nov. 16, have all tested negative and do not plan to self-isolate.