Kamala Harris Asheville event canceled after campaign staff member tests positive

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The Kamala Harris event in Asheville has been canceled.

Just before the Senator was scheduled to land in Asheville, the campaign released the news. According to a press release, late Wednesday night, two individuals involved in the campaign tested positive for COVID-19: a non-staff flight crew member and Liz Allen, communications director to Senator Harris.

Neither of these people have had contact with Vice President Biden, Senator Harris or any other staffers since testing positive or in the 48 hours prior to their positive test results.

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Senator Harris was not in close contact, as defined by the CDC, with either of these individuals during the two days prior to their positive tests; as such, there is no requirement for quarantine. Regardless, out of an abundance of caution and in line with our campaign’s commitment to the highest levels of precaution, the campaign is canceling Senator Harris’s travel through Sunday, October 18th.

Harris will continue virtual campaign activities during this time. She will return to in-person campaigning on Monday, October 19th.

After being with Senator Harris, both individuals attended personal, non-campaign events in the past week. Under our campaign’s strict health protocols, both individuals had to be tested before returning to their work with the campaign from these personal events. These protocols help protect the campaign, the staff, and anyone who they may have contact with.

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Prior to the visit, a large number of supporters had gathered on the AB Tech campus where Harris was expected to meet with campaign volunteers and local officials.

Prior to their time off, both individuals were on a flight with Senator Harris on October 8th. During the flight, Senator Harris wore an N95 mask, as did both individuals. She was not within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes with either of them. As such, she does not meet the CDC definition of “close contact” for exposure. In addition, both before and after the flight both individuals tested negative.

In the course of the campaign’s routine testing protocols, Senator Harris has taken 2 PCR tests since October 8th, and the tests all have been negative, most recently on Wednesday, October 14th. All other members of our staff on the flight have also taken routine tests since October 8th (two to three PCRs each); all of these tests have also been negative.

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Doug Emhoff’s travel for Thursday, October 15th has also been canceled. He has also taken 3 PCR tests since October 8th and all have been negative. Given that he had no contact at any time with the two individuals, and given both his and Senator Harris’s negative testing, he has not been exposed. He will return to in-person campaigning on Friday, October 16th.

The campaign has begun the contact tracing process to notify everyone who came into contact with the individuals during the potential infection window.

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