Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill, have tested negative for the coronavirus, he announced Friday, just hours after President Trump revealed that he had tested positive.
“I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID,” Mr. Biden wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Mr. Biden was going ahead with a planned campaign trip to Michigan on Friday, though he had not left Delaware by early afternoon and the timing of his first appearance in Michigan was uncertain.
Mr. Biden appeared on the debate stage with Mr. Trump on Tuesday night, and it can take several days after exposure for the virus to reach levels that are detectable by a test. People show symptoms on average around five days after exposure, but as late as 14 days.
Mr. Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, also tested negative on Friday, a campaign official said. Ms. Harris and Mr. Emhoff were continuing with planned campaign appearances in Nevada and North Carolina, respectively.
News of Mr. Trump’s test comes as Mr. Biden — after months of limited travel amid the pandemic — had started to return to the campaign trail. He was scheduled to travel to Grand Rapids, Mich., on Friday, and a train trip through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania on Wednesday was his most vigorous day of campaigning in months. On Thursday, his campaign said their team would resume in-person canvassing in battleground states.
In a note sent to staff Friday morning, Mr. Biden’s campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, asked the team to “refrain from posting about the situation on social media unless otherwise directed by your manager,” and promised that “the health and safety of the entire team has been, and will remain, our number one priority.”
In late August, the Biden campaign said Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris would be tested regularly, and that staff members who interacted with them would also be tested regularly. The campaign said it would announce publicly if Mr. Biden or Ms. Harris ever had a confirmed case of the coronavirus.
Earlier Friday, Mr. Biden wrote on Twitter that he and his wife, Jill, “send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery.”
“We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family,” he added.
