WASHINGTON (AFP, NYTIMES) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said via Twitter on Friday (Oct 2) he has tested negative for coronavirus, three days after his debate with Donald Trump, who has contracted the illness.
"I'm happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for Covid," Biden said. "I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands."
Minutes before, his doctor Kevin O'Connor issued a statement via the former vice-president's campaign about the negative result.
"Vice-president Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for Covid-19 today and Covid-19 was not detected," O'Connor said.
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris also tested negative on Friday for the coronavirus, according to an aide.
Earlier on Friday (Oct 2), Trump announced that he and wife Melania had Covid-19. He was later said by the White House to be suffering from mild symptoms of the virus.
Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife tested negative, a Pence spokesman said. The White House official said Pence would work from his own residence several miles from the White House and his staff was being kept separated from Trump's staff "out of an abundance of caution."
Pence, 61, a conservative former US lawmaker and Indiana governor, would take over if Trump were to become incapacitated.
Biden and Trump met on the debate stage in Ohio on Tuesday. Everyone in attendance had tested negative before the debate.
Trump's family arrived in masks, but later removed them, moderator Chris Wallace said.
It can take several days for a person infected with Covid-19 to test positive.
Biden wrote on Twitter that he and his wife "send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery."
"We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family," he added.
Senator Harris, Biden's running mate, also tweeted that she was keeping the president "and the entire Trump family in our thoughts."
Harris was scheduled to campaign in Nevada on Friday.
News of Trump's test comes as Biden - after months of limited travel amid the pandemic - had started to return to the campaign trail.
He was scheduled to travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday, and a train trip through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania on Wednesday was his most vigorous day of campaigning in months.
On Thursday, his campaign said their team would resume in-person canvassing in battleground states.
In a note sent to staff on Friday morning, Biden's campaign manager, Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, asked the team to "refrain from posting about the situation on social media unless otherwise directed by your manager," and promised that "the health and safety of the entire team has been, and will remain, our No. 1 priority."
In late August, the Biden campaign said Biden and Harris would be tested regularly, and that staff members who interacted with them would also be tested regularly.
The campaign said it would announce publicly if Biden or Harris ever has a confirmed case of the coronavirus.
