Biden again tests negative for virus amid Washington outbreak

The Biden camp says they've adhered to CDC guidelines since the onset of COVID-19, which Trump now has.

Oct 5, 2020

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden again tested negative for COVID-19 on Sunday.

Biden took two tests on Friday; both were negative.

The former vice president has been tested out of an abundance of caution after being exposed to coronavirus when he shared the stage with President Donald Trump during the first presidential debate last Tuesday.

Wearing a face mask to reduce the risk posed by COVID-19, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden departs his live video campaign event Saturday in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Reporter Yamiche Alcindor tweeted Sunday afternoon that the Biden campaign is reporting that he had been tested using PCR testing, which is the more accurate nasal swab test, and that “COVID-19 was not detected.”

President Trump confirmed that he had tested positive for the virus on Friday.

Biden is scheduled to campaign in Florida today, where his campaign has said that it will observe public health guidelines on masks, social distancing and crowd sizes.

The Democratic candidates’ testing regimen has not been made public. Campaign officials have said only that the vice president and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, are tested “regularly.”

“Much like I wouldn’t discuss our security plans here on national television, I’m not going to talk about our inner workings of our health plans,” Symone D. Sanders, a senior adviser for the Biden campaign, said on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday when asked what the campaign would do if Biden tested positive.

Sanders said the Biden campaign has adhered to guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.

“We are adhering to CDC guidance, we are listening to the public health experts, and we are taking every single precaution. Our staff are wearing masks and are social distancing everywhere — on planes, in cars, inside events, outside events,” Sanders said. “We’re wearing the masks that are keeping us safe.”

Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said on ABC News Sunday that Biden often uses a mask “as a prop.”

In response to Miller’s comment, Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield maintained, “I think that tells you a lot of what you need to know about how the Trump campaign has treated this from the outset.”

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s “Dear Culture” podcast? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio.today!