A Negative Test Doesn’t Mean Biden Is in the Clear
But other factors surrounding the debate suggest the likelihood of infection is low
Could Democratic nominee Joe Biden have been infected with the novel coronavirus during the debate on Tuesday? It’s unlikely, and the fact that he tested negative today is a good sign, but it doesn’t mean he’s entirely in the clear.
It can take anywhere from two to 14 days for Covid-19 symptoms to emerge. During this incubation period, the virus is replicating until its levels get high enough for it to be detected with a test, and for the infected person to be contagious. A few days after that, the immune system really kicks in and symptoms start to develop. In other words, a negative test and no sign of symptoms three days after a potential exposure doesn’t mean they won’t emerge later.
“If somebody tests negative, they may be incubating the virus,” says infectious disease expert and epidemiologist Celine Gounder, MD. “Just because you have a negative test doesn’t mean you don’t have it.”
However, Gounder says, given that President Trump only tested positive for the virus on Thursday — but not on Tuesday or Wednesday — he likely was not shedding enough of the virus earlier in the week to be contagious at the debate. “If somebody is negative on…
