Cedric Richmond: Biden adviser tests positive for coronavirus after Georgia campaign stop

One of president-elect’s closest advisers has started 14-day quarantine

Cedric Richmond, pictured on 17 November, has started a 14-day quarantine after two positive coronavirus tests. (AP)

Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond, tapped by Joe Biden as his incoming senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement, has tested positive for Covid-19, according to the president-elect’s transition team.

Richmond began experiencing symptoms on Wednesday, following a campaign appearance in Georgia supporting Democratic senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Transition spokesperson Kate Bedingfield 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.”

Interactions with the president-elect were in open air, “masked and totalled less than 15 consecutive minutes”, according to the transition team.

Following Richmond’s positive rapid test on Wednesday and a second positive test on Thursday, the transition team “initiated contact tracing protocols immediately” and determined he was only in close contact per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance with two drivers during his Georgia trip.

Richmond will quarantine for 14 days and submit to two tests before he appears in Congress or with the transition, the statement said.

The Democratic congressman – who served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus from 2017 to 2019 while representing New Orleans, Baton Rouge and neighbouring parishes in the House of Representatives – co-chaired Biden’s presidential campaign and chairs the president-elect’s transition team. He also co-chair’s Biden’s inaugural committee.

Prior to his election to the House in 2010, the congressman served in the Louisiana House of Representatives beginning in 2000, entering office as one of the youngest state lawmakers at the time.

With his incoming role as director of the Office of Public Engagement, Richmond will operate as a go-between to strengthen relationships with Republican lawmakers and the private sector.