Pence was initially scheduled to arrive in the city of Phoenix on Tuesday, the newspaper reported. Plans for the visit had already been scaled back amid a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases in the state, and the vice-president was urged to delay his arrival in the state by a day after a Secret Service agent on the ground tested positive for the disease, two administration officials told the newspaper.
According to one official, between eight to 10 Secret Service agents had begun showing symptoms of the disease, the newspaper reported.
On Wednesday, a record number of new COVID-19 cases were reported in Arizona over a 24-hour period. Public health officials registered 4,878 new cases in a single day upon Pence’s arrival in the state. More than 87,000 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the state since the start of the outbreak.
During his visit to Arizona, Pence held meetings with Governor Doug Ducey and discussed the ongoing epidemiological crisis.