President-elect Joe Biden's incoming senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement, Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, has tested positive for COVID-19, Biden-Harris Transition spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield announced late Thursday afternoon.
She said that Richmond was not in close contact with Biden, who tested negative on Thursday for COVID-19.
Richmond developed symptoms on Wednesday, December 16th and took a rapid test which came back positive, she said.
"Richmond was not in close contact, as defined by the CDC, with the President-elect," Bedingfield said. "President-elect Biden underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 today and COVID-19 was not detected."
The campaign also addressed an event Richmond attended for the Georgia runoff.
"On Tuesday, December 15th, Richmond traveled to Georgia for a campaign event with the Ossoff and Warnock campaigns," she said "Neither the candidates nor any member of the Ossoff or Warnock campaign teams were in close contact with Richmond, nor were Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacey Abrams or Nikema Williams, who also attended the Tuesday event."
She continued, "Richmond’s interactions with the President-elect 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."
Richmond will quarantine for 14 days and will produce two negative PCR tests before he returns to any in-person work in Congress or on the transition.