Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 28, the Department of the Air Force told reporters in an email that evening.
“He took the test today after learning that a close family member, with whom he had contact, tested positive for the virus,” the email states.
Thompson has not shown symptoms of COVID-19 so far, Department of the Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said. He was on leave last week but returned to the Pentagon for work on Oct. 26 and 27, from which he remotely addressed a virtual symposium hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association and Texas A&M University.
The four-star general is now working from home as he waits for the virus to leave his system. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett have not tested positive for the new virus within the past 24 hours and will not quarantine, Stefanek said.
Raymond and Brown recently ended their own time in isolation after a COVID-19 scare among the Joint Chiefs of Staff left them potentially exposed to the virus. It’s unclear who else on the Pentagon-based Space Force staff may have interacted with Thompson while he was in the office this week.
As of midday Oct. 26, the Department of the Air Force recorded a total of 8,741 cases of COVID-19 among Air Force and Space Force troops—excluding Air National Guard personnel.