Bill Stepien, Trump Campaign Manager, Returns to Office After COVID-19 Diagnosis

Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien stands alongside President Donald Trump as he speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One in Manchester, N.H., on Aug. 28, 2020. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign manager, Bill Stepien, returned to work 10 days after he tested positive for the CCP virus.

Stepien, 42, tested positive on Oct. 2 for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, and worked from home in isolation until Monday.

In a conference call with reporters on Monday, he said that he was back in the office “in full accordance with” guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported The Hill.

The CDC guidelines state that people diagnosed with COVID-19 can be with others after at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours without a fever or fever-reducing medication, and that other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving.

The guidelines also state that people who have tested negative twice consecutively by at least 24 hours can end their self-isolation earlier.

Stepien didn’t confirm whether he had tested negative for the CCP virus, reported The Hill. However, he noted that the campaign has a nurse on staff to check their health, and that the campaign’s headquarters in Virginia has health protocols.

Stepien replaced former campaign manager Brad Parscale in July. The 42-year-old Stepien was previously the campaign’s deputy manager. For Trump’s 2016 campaign, he served as a senior political adviser and a national field director. Stepien later served as a White House political director in the Trump administration.

Prior to working under Trump, Stepien worked for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, as manager for Christie’s gubernatorial campaigns in 2009 and in 2013. He also worked for other New Jersey Republican politicians prior becoming involved with Christie’s campaign.

Christie tested positive for the CCP virus on Oct. 3 and checked himself into a hospital that same day. On Oct. 10, he announced he was released from the hospital.

Trump announced in the early hours of Oct. 2 that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the CCP virus. Trump checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and later returned to the White House on Oct. 5. Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, announced on Monday that the president tested negative on consecutive days for the CCP virus.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as of late Monday, the United States has logged 7,800,532 cases of the CCP virus, with 214,034 deaths. The number of those who have recovered is 3,106,728.