At least three people connected to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign have tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the campaign to suspend in-person events for vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris until Monday.
Biden is not altering his public schedule, his campaign said Thursday, because he had no direct exposure to people who tested positive, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). aggressive push from Biden’s campaign. across a wide battlefield map, including North Carolina and Ohio, with less than three weeks to go by Election Day.
It’s the first major coronavirus scare of the campaign, after months of applying safety precautions that led to ridicule from President Donald Trump, even after he, first lady Melania Trump and others contracted the virus themselves. The cautious reaction of the Democratic campaign underscores the differences in how rival camps have approached the pandemic, both in terms of the government’s preferred response and in the candidates’ personal protocols.
The Biden campaign announced two positive cases Thursday morning, identifying Harris communications director Liz Allen and an unidentified flight crew member for one of Harris’s recent campaign trips. The campaign announced a third case Thursday afternoon as part of its contact tracing efforts for the first two cases.
The third individual is an aviation company employee who was on Biden’s plane for trips to Ohio and Florida earlier this week, but who entered the back of the plane and sat away from Biden, according to the campaign.
Harris and Biden, meanwhile, spent several hours campaigning together in Arizona on October 8, when the first two people to test positive were on a flight with Harris. Both candidates have tested negative for the coronavirus multiple times since then, including Thursday. Everyone traveling on the Biden campaign plane must wear a mask.
Trump, speaking without a mask at an outdoor rally in North Carolina Thursday afternoon, offered his best wishes to Harris and reiterated his skepticism about wearing masks.
“We care about her. I’m very worried about her, “he said, then added,” Masks, not masks, everything, you can do whatever you want, but you know, you still need help. “
Harris was scheduled to encourage early voting Thursday in North Carolina. Her trip to Cleveland on Friday would have been her first in Ohio as a vice presidential candidate and would have brought her to the metropolitan area with the highest concentration of black voters in the state.
Harris will continue the virtual campaign, including fundraising activities previously scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The senator’s brief hiatus along the way comes as Trump accelerates his own journey after he, the first lady, his son, his campaign manager and several White House staff contracted the virus.
Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told reporters Thursday morning that under CDC guidelines, there was no need for candidates to self-quarantine, though she said Harris and her husband , Doug Emhoff, would suspend travel for several days “due to an abundance of caution.” “None of these people had contact with Vice President Biden, Senator Harris, or any other staff member since testing positive or in the 48-hour period prior to positive results,” said O’Malley Dillon.
Harris followed up in a statement saying that she would be “transparent with you about the test results you receive. In the meantime, remember: wear a mask, practice social distancing, and wash your hands regularly. You can stop the spread. ”O’Malley Dillon announced the third case Thursday afternoon. She said Biden’s medical advisers recommended not quarantining because of the distance between Biden and the third person who tested positive.
Harris and Biden spent several hours together on October 8 through multiple campaign stops, private meetings and a joint appearance in front of reporters at an airport. They were masked at all times in public, and attendees said they were also masked in private, including on all flights.
O’Malley Dillon said all members of the campaign staff on the Oct. 8 flight have been screened at least twice since then. All the tests have been negative, he said.
The campaign learned of the first two positive tests Wednesday night, O’Malley Dillon said. Harris had opted earlier this week to attend the Senate Supreme Judicial Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett virtually, rather than in person, after some of her Republican colleagues in the Senate tested positive for the coronavirus or disclosed their exposure to others who had tested positive.
The events of the Democratic ticket campaign are socially distanced and require participants to wear masks. Staff often place chairs inside white plastic circles to indicate a distance of 6 feet (1.8 meters). During a recent indoor speech at a North Carolina event for Harris, reporters were asked to wear KN95 masks.
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