Joe Biden and wife Dr Jill Biden test negative for coronavirus hours after Trump diagnosis

AP
Luke O'Reilly2 October 2020

Joe Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden have both tested negative for Covid-19, hours after President Donald Trump revealed he had tested positive for the disease.

The Democratic presidential nominee tweeted: "I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID.

"Thank you to everyone for your messages of concern. I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands."

It comes after fears that Mr Biden, 78, had been exposed to coronavirus during Tuesday's chaotic presidential debate in Cleveland.

In a tweet on Mr Trump revealed that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the disease, throwing the election campaign into fresh chaos.

Melania Trump said she is experiencing "mild symptoms" after she and President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

"Thank you for the love you are sending our way. I have mild symptoms but overall feeling good. I am looking forward to a speedy recovery," she tweeted Friday morning.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said President Trump was also experiencing mild symptoms, but continues to work from the White House residence as he quarantines. The Trump's youngest child, Barron, 14, has tested negative for the virus.

US Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett (L) meets with US Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Utah Senator Mike Lee also said he had tested positive for the coronavirus after experiencing "symptoms consistent with longtime allergies." Lee visited the White House on Saturday for President Donald Trump's announcement that he had nominated Judge Amy Comey Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Lee said in his statement that he had tested negative for the virus when he visited the White House for Saturday's event, which featured little social distancing and few masks.

The Utah Republican also met with Barrett on Tuesday in Washinton. The two sat in chairs that were distanced several feet apart but took a photo before the meeting in which they were closer together. He also spoke to reporters after the meeting, removing his mask in front of the cameras as most lawmakers generally do.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in