U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, the wife of one of President Donald Trump's senior advisers, has tested positive for the coronavirus, raising alarm about the virus' potential spread within the White House's innermost circle.

The diagnosis of Katie Miller, who is married to White House immigration adviser and speech writer Stephen Miller, was revealed by Trump in a meeting with Republican lawmakers on Friday, a day after news that Trump's personal valet had tested positive for the virus.

"Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive," Trump said, noting he himself had not been in contact with her but that she had spent time with the vice president. "I understand Mike has been tested... and he tested negative."

Despite Trump's comments, the two cases in quick succession heightened fears of contagion for the president and vice president, who are leading the U.S. response to the pandemic, and who have both resumed travel and business schedules even as the U.S. death toll from the virus has topped 75,000.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Friday sought to defend administration efforts to protect Trump and Pence, pointing to new measures taken by the White House including contact tracing and putting in place all guidelines recommended for essential workers.

"We've taken every single precaution to protect the president," McEnany insisted to reporters at a White House briefing. She also noted regular cleanings and adherence to distancing guidelines of six feet between individuals that are not always followed at crowded White House events.

"We've done every single thing that Dr. (Deborah) Birx and Dr. (Anthony) Fauci have asked us to do," she added, referring to highly respected physicians on the White House coronavirus task force.

West Wing staffers around Trump and Pence have not been wearing masks regularly.

Earlier on Friday, Trump was asked in a Fox News interview whether those who serve him food would now cover their faces. "They've already started," he said.

The White House has also instituted daily, as opposed to weekly, coronavirus tests of Trump and Pence. Both men tested negative for the virus and were feeling well after the valet, a military service member who works as a White House assistant – came down with the virus.

Trump told Fox News he has not yet been tested for antibodies to the coronavirus but probably would be soon. Such a test could confirm previous exposure.

Trump and Pence maintain busy public schedules. The vice president, who has led the coronavirus task force, flew to Iowa on Friday to meet with faith leaders about holding "responsible" gatherings and to discuss the food supply at Midwestern grocery chain Hy-Vee Inc's headquarters.

News of the positive test for Pence's aide prompted staff to deplane Air Force 2 on Friday morning and briefly delayed the takeoff.

"We went back and looked into all the person's contacts most recently," a senior official told reporters, according to a pool report. Six individuals who may have been in contact with the infected aide were removed from the flight and later tested negative. Two of the individuals were members of Pence's press office.

Trump on Friday attended a public event at the World War Two memorial with elderly veterans where neither Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, the veterans nor military officials seen at the ceremony wore masks.

Trump later met face-to-face with Republican members of Congress at the White House where no face masks appeared to be worn. The lawmakers were tested for the virus before the meeting.

Unemployment worst since Great Depression

The coronavirus pandemic triggered the steepest monthly loss of U.S. jobs since the Great Depression, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

The unemployment rose 14.7 percent last month, up from 3.5  in February and demonstrating the speed with which the economy collapsed after stay-at-home orders meant to curb the outbreak were imposed across most of the country.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the unemployment rate was likely to climb to around 20 percent this month. The jobless rate for April already shattered the post-World War Two record of 10.8 percent set in November 1982.

Just as the pathogen itself has hit black and Hispanic Americans especially hard – they are overrepresented in the U.S. death toll relative to their population size – minorities also have suffered greater job losses during the crisis.

The April unemployment rate was 14.2 percent for white Americans, but the rate reached 16.7 percent among African Americans and 18.9 percent among Hispanic Americans, the data showed.

Overall, the Labor Department reported a loss of 20.5 million jobs in April, a level not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. On Thursday, the government said that 33.5 million workers had filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits during the past seven weeks.

(With input from Reuters)