Trump's Mar-a-Lago Hit With COVID Outbreak

Resort partially shut down after staffers test positive
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2021 6:00 AM CDT
Latest Partial Shutdown Due to COVID: Trump's Mar-a-Lago
Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla.   (Getty Images/Wangkun Jia)

In South Florida, a coronavirus closing is making headlines due to its most famous occupant. Sources tell WPBF that Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach has been partially shut down due to a COVID outbreak among its workers. In an email, the club's management says service in the dining room and beach club has been temporarily suspended, although banquet and event services are still up and running. The Washington Post also has a statement from the Trump Organization that notes the move was made "out of an abundance of caution," and that "some of the workers" have been quarantined. It's not clear how many staffers are affected. The AP, which was the first to report on the partial closure, notes that Mar-a-Lago was where then-President Trump was first known to have been exposed to the virus in March 2020, when multiple visitors there, including a senior Brazilian official, tested positive.

Per the Post, although Palm Beach County, where the club is located, still mandates face masks be worn except when guests are "actively consuming food and beverage," two events held last weekend at Mar-a-Lago show very few attendees—including Trump himself, who resides at the resort—actually donned face coverings. Sources who've visited the resort tell the paper that the club recommends visitors wear masks and even provides them, but that it doesn't force anyone to put them on. The New York Times notes that multiple Republican National Committee events are scheduled to be held at Mar-a-Lago during the group's spring retreat in April. Per the AP, an email sent to Mar-a-Lago members assured them that "all appropriate response measures," including sanitization, have been taken. "The health and safety of our members and staff is our highest priority," the email noted. (More Mar-a-Lago stories.)

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