Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley tests positive for Covid-19

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley tested positive for Covid-19 Sunday and “is experiencing very minor symptoms,” Joint Staff spokesperson Col. Dave Butler announced Monday.

In addition to Milley, commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger has also tested positive for the coronavirus, a senior Defense official confirmed to CNN.

Milley is working remotely from home following his diagnosis, a Defense Department official told CNN. Butler said in a statement that Milley “can perform all of his duties from the remote location.”

“He has received the COVID-19 vaccines including the booster,” Butler said.

According to the statement, Milley most recently had contact with President Joe Biden on Wednesday, January 12, at Gen. Raymond Odierno’s funeral.

“He tested negative several days prior to and every day following contact with the President until yesterday,” Butler said.

“All other Joint Chiefs of Staff except for one tested negative for COVID-19 yesterday,” he added.

Berger, who tested positive on Sunday, is working from home and is also fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus.

“The performance of his duties will remain unaffected,” the senior Defense official said.

Milley is the latest top Pentagon official to contract the virus this year, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin having received a positive test earlier this month. Austin, who had mild symptoms during his bout with the virus, has since recovered.

The military has been seeing a sharp uptick in cases among service members in recent weeks, continuing a trend that began during the holiday season.

The DOD reported last week that there were 32,912 Covid-19 cases in service members around the world, marking a dramatic increase from one week earlier, when there were 13,940 cases across the military. Just before Christmas, the number was a far lower, at 5,285 cases.

The Defense Department does not test specifically for the Omicron variant that has been driving the increase in cases around the world, but officials say there is every reason to believe the highly contagious strain is responsible for the soaring case numbers.

This story has been updated with additional information Monday.

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CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this report.