Cedric Richmond, new member of the Biden administration, tests positive for coronavirus



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Richmond recently traveled to Atlanta for a campaign event Tuesday for the second round of the Senate in Georgia, where President-elect Joe Biden was also in attendance.

Bedingfield said Biden underwent a PCR test for Covid-19 on Thursday and the virus was not detected.

“Richmond’s interactions with the president-elect took place in the open air, were obscured and totaled less than 15 consecutive minutes, the CDC’s deadline for close contact,” Bedingfield said.

The congressman went to Georgia alone and not with the president-elect, according to Bedingfield.

Richmond is expected to be quarantined for 14 days and will need to test negative for two PCR tests before returning for any in-person work in Congress or on the transition, Bedingfield said.

Richmond developed symptoms on Wednesday and took a rapid test, which came back positive, according to Bedingfield. She said that on Thursday, according to their standard protocol, Richmond took a PCR test, which also came back positive.

Bedingfield said that after the rapid test came back positive, the transition team immediately started contact tracing and “determined that he was in close contact as defined by the CDC with two people, who are neither Biden, Warnock or Ossoff staff members “. The two people have been notified and are going into quarantine, she said.

Last month, Biden’s transition team announced that Richmond would join Biden’s White House and step down from the House seat he has occupied since 2011. The congressman said he would step down from his seat before the January 20, the day of Biden’s inauguration.

Richmond is a past chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and co-chair of Biden’s presidential campaign. He was an early supporter of Biden’s presidential candidacy and a staunch campaign substitute.

The congressman is currently president of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. He is a member of the NDP Coalition and is the House Democratic Deputy to the Majority Whip.

This story has been updated with more information about Richmond and his positive test result.

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