A close adviser to Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 and is going to quarantine himself, a spokeswoman for the US president-elect said Thursday, assuring that the latter was not considered a contact case.
Cedric Richmond, named top White House adviser, did a rapid test on Wednesday after developing the first symptoms that came back positive. A second test on Thursday confirmed the diagnosis, Kate Bedingfield said.
Joe Biden also took a test Thursday, which turned out to be negative, she added in a statement.
The adviser had attended a meeting of Mr. Biden in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, but “has not had close contact” with him, according to the spokesperson.
He had not traveled with the president-elect and his contact with him had taken place “in the open air, with a mask on and lasted less than 15 minutes,” she said.
Cedric Richmond, 47, will observe fourteen days of quarantine and will have to undergo two negative tests to be able to resume his duties. Two people who accompanied him by car on his trip to Georgia were also quarantined.
Aged 78, Joe Biden has been increasing health security measures since the start of the pandemic. He limits his movements to the strict minimum, wears a mask – or supposedly two – in public, and gets tested regularly.
He assured that he was ready to be vaccinated “in public” as soon as he could.
Several dozen collaborators and relatives of Donald Trump and employees of the White House have been infected with the virus which has killed more than 310,000 in the United States.