The U.S. ambassador to South Africa attended a dinner at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club with Brazilian officials who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. But she told her State Department employees that she did not consider herself at risk because the dinner was outside and she believed the virus could not withstand the Florida heat, people familiar with the matter said Friday.
Ambassador Lana Marks made the claim during a "town hall" meeting for hundreds of staff members at U.S. diplomatic facilities in South Africa on Thursday, which was held following several days of concern among staff members who knew of her exposure. Details of the session were provided to The Washington Post afterward by people familiar with the ambassador's remarks.
Employees voiced concerns during the meeting about Marks's failure to self-quarantine or take other protective measures.
State Department employees at Thursday's meeting protested that they have been placed at risk, that Marks is not following the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that she is incorrect that the virus could not have been transmitted at the outdoor dinner.
Marks, a fashion executive and Mar-a-Lago member, told staff at the meeting she would go into semi-seclusion but not cut out all meetings or contact with staff, these people said. She had previously told staff members who raised concerns that the incubation period has passed and that she does not believe she is at risk.
During the meeting, Marks said she was not in close contact with an infected person and that the temperature at Mar-a-Lago that night was above 26 degrees Celsius (about 79 Fahrenheit) and that the virus would not be transmissible at that temperature.
Shortly after the town hall meeting, Marks tweeted that she would enter self-quarantine, a shift from her stance before the employee session.
"t is essential that everyone stays both safe and healthy — on a personal level, I am strongly advocating self-quarantine and social distancing for those who may, even by the remotest possibility, have been exposed," she wrote.
"Returning to Pretoria, I had to take a fairly full flight. While nobody on the plane was diagnosed with #Covid19, and neither I nor my family are experiencing symptoms, in order to err on the side of extreme caution, we will self-quarantine for the prescribed 14 Days."
"I hope my personal actions serve as a good example to everyone who has recently travelled," she wrote.
