⁍ White House chief of staff Marc Short tested positive for COVID-19.

---

⁍ White House doctors have cleared Pence to travel after Short tested positive.

---

⁍ Pence is scheduled to address rallies in Kinston, North Carolina, later on Sunday and in Hibbing, Minnesota, on Monday.

---

– With nine days to go before the election, coronavirus is keeping the campaign front and center—and Mike Pence is continuing to campaign despite being diagnosed with the virus. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that Pence is an “essential worker” who has been cleared to travel after he was exposed to the virus by his chief of staff, Marc Short, reports Reuters. “We do test on a regular basis,” Meadows said. “We’re not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigation areas.” He declined to say whether Pence, who has led the White House coronavirus task force, would be tested daily going forward, but did say “we do test on a regular basis.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who himself contracted the virus and was hospitalized for a week without wearing a mask, said he was “surprised” Pence would continue campaigning. “Everybody’s gotta put the health of the people they’re going to be in touch with first,’ Christie told ABC’s This Week program. Infectious diseases expert Dr. Sandra Nelson of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital said it appeared that Pence would be at high risk for becoming infected and transmitting infection. “With multiple members of his office testing positive this would be considered a work-based cluster. Anytime there is a cluster like this I would advise that the entire office transition to remote work for 14 days,” she said.