Kamala Harris Suspends Travel After Staff Members Test Positive for COVID-19
Kamala Harris’s communicative director, Liz Allen, and a flight crew member on a flight taken by Democratic Nominee Joe Biden have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
It is speculated that the flight crew member, an administrative member of the Aviation company that charters Biden’s aircraft, got the virus through contact with two of Harris’s staff members who tested positive on Wednesday night (Allen and a member of Harris’s flight team). In a statement from campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon released on Twitter, the campaign learned of Biden’s flight crew member’s diagnosis around noon on Thursday, through contact tracing of Harris’s team. According to the statement, Biden was not in “close contact” — as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — with the individual, who was not named. The campaign said Biden was over 50 feet from the individual during both of the flights the individual was on, which were on Monday to Ohio and Tuesday to Florida.
JUST IN: A crew member on @JoeBiden’s campaign plane has also tested positive for #COVID19. But they’ve determined the crew member “was over 50 feet from VP Biden at all times,” they’ve determined “there is no need for the Vice President to quarantine.” Stmt from @jomalleydillon: pic.twitter.com/yXRRAtHI8g
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) October 15, 2020
Harris was scheduled to campaign in North Carolina on Thursday and Ohio on Friday, and she is expected to resume campaigning on Monday. All her tests for COVID-19 have so far been negative.
“Our campaign’s contact tracing remains ongoing, and my team will continue to share any significant developments with the American people,” Biden wrote on Twitter. “If anything, let this serve as an example of the importance of wearing masks and keeping a safe, social distance.”
Our campaign’s contact tracing remains ongoing, and my team will continue to share any significant developments with the American people. If anything, let this serve as an example of the importance of wearing masks and keeping a safe, social distance.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 15, 2020
In place of the second presidential debate tonight, both Biden and President Trump will be holding town halls tonight.
We wish everyone in the Biden/Harris campaign a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing Harris back on the campaign trail.
