The US Marine Corps said its No 2 officer, General Gary Thomas, had tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the second senior military official to do so this week, another sign of the danger to top brass who met both men at the Pentagon.

Thomas, the Marine Corps’ assistant commandant, is suffering mild symptoms and is self-quarantining at home, the Marine Corps said.

Nearly all the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including its chairman, Army General Mark Milley, are in quarantine after attending top-level meetings last week with Thomas and the Coast Guard’s No 2 official, Admiral Charles Ray, who tested positive on Monday for coronavirus.