‘Kamala back on campaign trail’

US DEMOCRATIC vicepresidential nominee Kamala Harris resumed her campaign travel plans earlier this week after one of her staff members tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

Harris, who the campaign said tested negative for coronavirus last Wednesday (14), had planned an aggressive travel schedule in the run-up to the November 3 election between her running mate Joe Biden and president Donald Trump.

She was scheduled to appear in North Carolina last Thursday (15), a competitive battleground state where early voting just started.

But the campaign said it learned late last Wednesday that Harris’ communications director, Liz Allen, and a flight crew member had tested positive for the virus. Both travelled with the Democratic senator during a campaign trip in Arizona on October 8.

Harris was not in close contact with either infected person during the two days prior to their diagnosis, the Biden campaign said in a statement and call with reporters.

Harris wore a mask during the flight she shared with Allen and the flight crew member, who both tested negative before and after the flight, it added.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the US particularly hard, killing more people than any other country in the world, and upending the 2020 presidential race.

Democrats especially have increased their use of virtual campaigning, fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts to limit the spread and avoid unnecessary health risks.