Senior officer in US Space Force tests positive for COVID-19

WASHINGTON - A senior officer in the US Space Force has tested positive for COVID-19, the US Air Force said in a statement Wednesday.

"General David D. Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations, tested positive today for COVID-19. He took the test today after learning that a close family member, with whom he had contact, tested positive for the virus," the statement said. "In accordance with established COVID policies, General Thompson is self-quarantining and working remotely from home."

The statement said the Space Force "remains operationally ready to answer the Nation's call".

Thompson's infection followed the COVID-19 diagnosis earlier this month of Admiral Charles Ray, vice commandant of the US Coast Guard. Several senior military officials, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, had to be quarantined due to close contact with Ray.

The Space Force is a newly established branch of the US armed forces within the Department of the Air Force. It "organizes, trains, equips and maintains mission-ready space forces that provide missile warning, space domain awareness, positioning, navigation and timing, communications and space electronic warfare", according to an introduction by the Department of Defense.