Joe Biden Tests Negative For COVID-19, Campaign Says
Following the recent news about Trump testing positive for COVID-19, the public expressed its desire to know about Joe Biden's health status as well. Biden's campaign has announced that the former vice president's COVID-19 test has come back negative.
His campaign revealed that Biden was administered a PCR test, and COVID-19 was not detected. This was the second time Biden has tested negative since Trump revealed Friday morning that he and the first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19.
Biden initially tested negative for coronavirus on Friday, hours after the president revealed that he and the first lady had tested positive for the coronavirus via a tweet. The president's positive test raised concerns that his rival may have been exposed to the virus during the first presidential debate, although the two candidates did not make contact or even greeted one another, and their podiums were about 12 feet apart.
Fox News reporter Chris Wallace who served as the moderator during the debate said Trump arrived too late to be tested on-site for COVID-19, adding that a lot of his party members refused to abide by the rule that required them to wear masks throughout the event. Trump is hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he is undergoing treatment for the virus.
Trump has shown symptoms such as fever and fatigue, and also required supplemental oxygen on Friday and Saturday, The Hill reported. Pushing his campaign ahead, Biden, on the other hand, appeared in Michigan on Friday to deliver remarks there.
Biden's campaign has stopped negative ads while Trump is battling coronavirus, though the Trump campaign has not responded to that gesture. Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will be locking horns during a debate that is slated to take place in Utah on Wednesday.
That event is scheduled to take place, considering both Harris and Pence have tested negative for COVID-19 in recent days. Trump and Biden are scheduled to appear in two more debates that will take place on Oct. 15, and Oct. 22. It remains to be seen how the president's illness will impact those debates if they proceed.
With Election Day about a month away, Biden continues to maintain an early advantage in securing the national popular vote. Biden opened his widest lead in a month in the presidential race after Trump tested positive for coronavirus, and a majority of Americans claim Trump could have avoided contracting the virus simply by following safety guidelines and taking the virus more seriously.