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(CNN) Joe Biden will be tested more frequently for Covid-19 and intends to go ahead with the campaign in person, following news that President Donald Trump and several people in his orbit have tested positive, sources told CNN.
The Democratic candidate will receive a test every time he travels, said a source familiar with the Democratic candidate’s tests.
His campaign said Saturday it would reveal the results of all the tests Biden performs.
“We have adhered to the strict and extensive safety practices recommended by public health experts and physicians in all of our campaigns, including social distancing, the use of masks and additional safeguards,” said campaign spokesman Andrew Bates. , it’s a statement. “Vice President Biden is testing himself regularly and we will publish the results of each test.”
In early September, deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told reporters in a press call that Biden was being screened weekly, but that has improved as his travels have increased in recent weeks. The former vice president most recently announced that he tested negative for the coronavirus on Friday, hours after Trump announced his own diagnosis, and days after the two shared the stage for the first presidential debate.
After attending mass in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday, Biden told reporters that he would be tested for coronavirus again on Sunday morning, two days after traveling to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Biden’s and Trump’s podiums were placed 12 feet 8 inches apart during the debate Tuesday night, according to a source with knowledge of the setup of the debate.
There was no contact from the Trump campaign or the White House to alert Biden’s campaign of possible exposure, said a senior Biden campaign official who was with the former vice president in the debate. That official said the Biden campaign believes there is not much risk because “we were never close to them.”
Campaign wizards believe that over the past few months, they have developed an effective recipe for campaigning safely, including wearing masks, social distancing, and smaller events, and they intend to continue those practices.
Biden and his wife Jill are scheduled to travel to South Florida on Monday. On Thursday, Biden will visit Arizona, his first visit to the battlefield state, with his running mate Kamala Harris.
On Friday, Biden traveled as scheduled to Grand Rapids after receiving a negative coronavirus test result. While he went ahead with his planned comments on the economy, he canceled an in-person event.
During comments on Friday, he said that Trump’s positive test for the coronavirus is an “invigorating reminder” of the severity of the pandemic.
“We have to take this virus seriously. It will not go away automatically,” Biden said. “We have to do our part to be responsible. It means following the science, listening to the experts, washing our hands, social distancing. It means wearing a mask in public. It means encouraging others to do so as well.”
A campaign official said that recent developments regarding the coronavirus reinforce why it is a central theme in this campaign.
“It’s about who Americans trust to control the virus and protect them and how to get the country working again,” the official said.
The official reiterated that if Biden were to test positive for coronavirus, the campaign would make that information public.
The Biden campaign pulled its negative ads on Friday, with totally positive messages after Trump’s test, a campaign aide said.
The aide said the decision to remove the negative ads was made before the White House announced Friday night that Trump would be going to Walter Reed Medical Center for a few days.
In response to the Biden campaign’s decision to drop the negative ads, spokesman Tim Murtaugh told CNN that the Trump campaign will not make a similar move.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Biden will be tested more frequently and will continue to campaign in person.”
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