Rep. Cedric Richmond, adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The news was announced by the Biden transition team.
Richmond will join the incoming Biden administration as a White House senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement.
According to guidelines set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Biden is not considered a close contact of Richmond’s.
Richmond traveled to Georgia with Biden for campaign events Tuesday. Still, any interaction between the two “happened in open air, were masked and totaled less than 15 consecutive minutes, the CDC’s timeframe for close contact. Richmond traveled to Georgia on his own and not with the President-elect,” transition spokesperson Kate Bedingfield said in a statement.
“Richmond will quarantine for a period of 14 days and will produce two negative PCR tests before he returns to any in-person work in Congress or on the transition,” Bedingfield continued.
Biden took a COVID-19 test on Thursday and the results were negative.
Biden has expressed that he wishes to take the COVID-19 vaccine in front of cameras to set a good example for the American people, with one small hesitation.
“I don’t want to get ahead of the line,” he told reporters when asked when he would get the shots. “But I want to make sure that we demonstrate to the American people that it is safe to take.”
According to CNN, Biden could be publicly taking the vaccine as soon as next week. Biden has said his administration would distribute 100 million vaccine shots — enough to cover 50 million people in his first 100 days in office. He also vowed to sign a face mask mandate on his first day in office, asking Americans to wear a face mask for his first 100 days.
