Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, tested negative for COVID-19 today. Previously, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump revealed that they had tested positive for COVID-19 just days after Trump and Biden faced off at the first presidential debate.
“I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID,” Biden wrote on Twitter on October 2. “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.”
Shortly after news broke that Trump tested positive, the Biden campaign began testing the candidate as well as all their staff who attended the debate. The Trump campaign reportedly did not directly tell the Biden campaign that the president tested positive, leaving the Biden campaign to find out about it through news reports, according to The Hill.
The coronavirus mainly spreads through respiratory droplets. People who have the infection expel those droplets, which contain the virus, when they talk, cough, yell, or sneeze. Those droplets can land in someone else’s mouth, nose, or eyes and go on to infect them. In some scenarios, those droplets can form smaller aerosol particles that may linger in the air for a little while rather than immediately falling to the ground.
People who attended this week’s presidential debate were required to take a COVID-19 test first, SELF reported previously. Cleveland Clinic, the event’s health advisor, also recommended temperature checks, mask wearing, and other health screening on-site. However, neither candidate wore a mask onstage, and Trump’s family did not wear masks in the audience during the debate. So it’s possible that Biden and other attendees and staff may have been exposed to the virus during the event.
At the debate, Trump repeatedly mocked Biden’s consistent usage of face masks while Biden criticized Trump’s response to the pandemic that’s now killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S.
It’s a relief to hear that Joe and Jill Biden received negative COVID-19 tests today. But they will likely need repeated negative tests in the coming days to be sure that they didn’t get COVID-19 from the debate. The coronavirus has an incubation period of up to 14 days, meaning that it can take two weeks before someone who is infected actually develops symptoms. (If they develop symptoms at all.)
If someone doesn’t have symptoms of COVID-19, experts generally advise waiting at least a few days after a possible exposure to the virus before getting tested, SELF explained previously. Even with a negative test, it’s still a good idea for people who’ve come in contact with someone who is known to have COVID-19 to quarantine from others for the full 14 days just in case.
That’s partly because it’s possible to get a false negative from a test (a negative result when you do actually have the infection), especially earlier on in the infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And it’s also because we know that people who don’t have noticeable symptoms can still spread the virus. A negative test result is not a guarantee that someone won’t get sick or test positive shortly after, but it is a good sign.
As Biden said in his tweet, this is a reminder of the value wearing a mask, social distancing, and rapid testing. Together, these public health tools can help keep us all safer.
Related:
President Trump Tests Positive for COVID-19 Just Days After the Debate
Amid the Presidential Debate Chaos, Biden Heavily Criticized Trump’s COVID-19 Response
Most of Trump’s Family Didn’t Wear Masks During Last Night’s Debate