Joe Biden Tests Negative For Coronavirus Following Donald Trump's Diagnosis

The former vice president has made something of a lucky escape: on Tuesday night he was in a room with Trump during the first 2020 presidential debate in Cleveland.

They were spaced more than six feet apart, but both yelled without face masks in an indoor space – factors that increase the risk of spreading the virus.

Trump said on Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive, hours after top Trump aide Hope Hicks was diagnosed with the virus.

Hicks had been part of the team travelling with the president for the debate and was seen stepping off Air Force One afterward without a mask. Members of Trump’s family flouted mask-wearing guidelines during the event.

Prior to receiving his test result on Friday, Biden expressed his good wishes to the Trumps. Biden campaign officials said they had no prior notification from the Trump campaign about the president’s Covid-19 exposure, and learned about Trump’s diagnosis through news reports.

Biden’s campaign has focused on Trump’s failure to protect Americans from the pandemic. The president has for months downplayed the severity of the virus – even as the US death toll topped 200,000, the highest in the world. Trump has pressured states and schools to reopen, spread falsehoods about treatments, held packed campaign rallies and mocked others for wearing face masks.

During Tuesday night’s debate, Biden pointed out that Trump rarely wears a face mask in public. Trump responded by ridiculing Biden  for wearing “the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says face masks greatly reduce the spread of Covid-19.