The Atlantic

Biden’s Negative Test Result Isn’t Enough to Say He’s in the Clear

Trump could have infected him. We won’t know with certainty for another week.
Source: Scott Olson / Getty / The Atlantic

Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET on October 4, 2020.

“I don’t wear masks like him,” President Donald Trump said during Tuesday night’s presidential debate, deriding his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask.” But at nearly 1 a.m. eastern time today, Trump announced that he had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.  

As president, Trump’s has contributed to the deaths of about 200,000 Americans and at least 7.2 million infections. But now that he himself is sick, one has to wonder: How many people has Trump personally infected? And could Biden be one of them? Encouragingly, Biden tested negative for the virus today, but “a negative test doesn’t say he’s completely in the clear,” says Angela Rasmussen, a virologist

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