US Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris will temporarily halt campaign travel until Monday after two members of her staff tested positive for Covid-19.
Harris had planned an aggressive travel schedule in the run-up to the November 3rd election between her running mate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
She was scheduled to appear in North Carolina on Thursday, a competitive battleground state where early voting just started and Trump is due to campaign as well.
But the Biden campaign said it learned late on Wednesday that Harris’ communications director, Liz Allen, and a flight crew member had tested positive for the virus. Both traveled with the Democratic senator during a campaign trip in Arizona on Oct. 8.
Neither aide had close contact with the candidates in the 48 hours prior to their positive tests, according to Biden Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon.
“Regardless, out of an abundance of caution and in line with our campaign’s commitment to the highest levels of precaution, we are cancelling Senator Harris’s travel through Sunday,” Dillon said.
Harris tested negative for the coronavirus on Wednesday and is set to be tested again on Thursday. The Biden campaign has made emphasising health safety a visible part of its political strategy, in an effort to mark a point of contrast with President Trump.
Biden is scheduled to hold a town hall event on ABC News on Thursday night. President Trump is due to host a competing town hall on NBC at the same time