Biden Still Has Not Been Tested for COVID-19: Campaign

Biden Still Has Not Been Tested for COVID-19: Campaign
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accepts the Democratic Party nomination for president in Wilmington, Del., on Aug. 20, 2020. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
Zachary Stieber
Updated:

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has not been tested for COVID-19, a campaign official confirmed on Sunday.

“He has not been tested; however, we have put the strictest protocols in place and, moving forward, should he need to be tested, he certainly would be,” deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

Still, she insisted that Biden, 77, has not been infected with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

“He has not had the virus. The vice president has not had the virus,” she said.

The campaign has put into place “really strict protocols” to screen anyone coming into contact with either Biden or Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the vice presidential nominee, according to the campaign.

A significant percentage of people who contract the virus show zero or few symptoms. There’s no clear way to tell if one has had the new illness without a test, whether it’s the type of test that determines if a person currently has the malady or an antibody test, which indicates that people have had COVID-19 in the past.

A COVID-19 testing site in Kissimmee, Fla., on Aug. 14, 2020. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
A COVID-19 testing site in Kissimmee, Fla., on Aug. 14, 2020. Octavio Jones/Getty Images

President Donald Trump, who Biden is challenging, has been tested dozens of times. None have come back positive.

Biden told reporters on July 28 that he had not been tested. Asked if would get tested in the future, he demurred.

In June, he said he had not been tested for two reasons.

“One, I have had no symptoms. As my mother would say, knock on wood. And number two, I haven’t wanted to take anybody else’s place in the process,” he said.

“But the Secret Service, they all get tested. They’re around my home. And anyone who comes into my home, including staff, is tested, just to determine whether they have the virus. I expect what I’m going to do so it doesn’t look like I’m moving in the front of the line here is be tested relatively soon.”

Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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