White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows holds his head in his hands after a briefing by Donald Trump’s doctor outside Walter Reed Medical Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, October 3, 2020 (Erin Scott/Reuters)

The US has set another record for daily Coronavirus cases, as five White House officials, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, test positive.

Another 128,748 infections were recorded on Friday, following the 121,888 on Thursday, as the total reached 9,739,545.

Deaths again topped 1,000, with 1,050 fatalities taking the total to 236,099.

Six states — Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Utah — set new daily highs on Friday for confirmed cases.

Throughout the summer, Meadows bolstered Trump’s denial of the Coronavirus threat. He escaped the wave of the virus after the September 26 ceremony at the White House for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, with more than 20 Administration and Republican figures testing positive in the following week.

Last month, Meadows tried to bury the confirmation of infections among Vice President Mike Pence’s staff. The news broke through; however, Pence continued to campaign at gatherings with no social distancing.

See TrumpWatch, Day 1,374: Coronavirus — Pence’s Aides Test Positive

On Wednesday, the Chief of Staff told advisors that he is infected. Trump campaign advisor Nick Trainer also has the virus.

A White House official said that, as with the Pence episode, staff were told to keep quiet about the cases.

On Tuesday night, Meadows was at Trump’s election gathering of several hundred people at the White House, many of whom were not wearing masks. Earlier in the day, the Chief of Staff was unmasked alongside aides as Trump greeted campaign workers in Virginia.

Meadows has often mocked reporters for covering their faces, and has refused to give statements when he was asked to wear his mask.

He also has tried to limit the public appearances and TV interviews of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Government’s top Coronavirus expert, as Trump has turned to the unqualified medical confidante Dr. Scott Atlas, a proponent of “herd immunity”.

Days before the election, Meadows appeared to endorse Atlas’s approach — or admit Administration failure — when he said in a TV interview, “We are not going to control the pandemic.”

See TrumpWatch, Day 1,375: Trump’s Chief of Staff — “We’re Not Going to Control The Pandemic”