After new concerns surfaced on Friday about former Vice President Joe Biden’s possible exposure to COVID-19 following President Donald Trump’s and first lady Melania Trump’s positive diagnosis, Biden has tested negative for COVID-19, his campaign said.
“Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 today and COVID-19 was not detected. I am reporting this out in my capacity as both Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden’s primary care physician,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a statement.
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Biden then tweeted, “I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID. Thank you to everyone for your messages of concern. I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands.”
Earlier, the Democratic nominee tweeted well wishes to the president and first lady about eight hours after Trump announced the news about his test by tweet just before 1 a.m. Friday.
The president’s diagnosis comes two days after Trump and Biden spent over 90 minutes facing off on the debate stage in a chaotic and continuous presidential face-off.
Precautions were taken to try to mitigate the dangers of COVID-19 during the debate — the candidates did not shake hands while entering the stage, and spoke from two socially-distanced lecterns. However, Biden, Trump and Moderator, journalist Chris Wallace, did not wear masks during their time on stage.
During the debate Tuesday, the president mocked Biden for his frequent use of face coverings.
“I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from it, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve seen,” Trump said of Biden.
