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