Joe Biden says COVID-19 test negative before debate

Washington, Oct 22: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says he has tested negative for COVID-19 ahead of his debate with President Donald Trump.

Biden made the comments to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday before flying to Nashville, Tennessee, where he's scheduled to participate in the second debate with the Republican president, the final scheduled meeting of the two candidates before the Nov. 3 election. Biden says he underwent the coronavirus testing on Thursday.

Last week during a town hall-style interview on MSNBC, Trump did not specify when he was asked when he had been tested before the Sept. 29 debate. The White House announced two days later Trump had tested positive.

Trump spent three nights at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center before returning to the White House. The White House was asked Thursday morning whether Trump had been tested, as Biden was, in preparation for the debate. It has not released an update.