With less than 10 days before the end of the election, Miami Beach Commissioner David Richardson announced Sunday that he had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, sending a flurry of other politicians — and maybe a few drag queens — to get their own tests.
Richardson, who reported “minor symptoms,” was one of the politicians at a “Drag out the Vote” event Friday at Palace in Miami Beach with Mayor Dan Gelber and Miami-Dade Commissioners Eileen Higgins and Daniella Levine Cava, who is running for mayor.
This comes at a time when cases are surging nationwide, and in Florida. Miami-Dade has been up and down, reporting more than 900 new cases between Friday and Saturday, according to the Florida Department of Health’s COVID dashboard.
Levine Cava tested negative on her rapid test Sunday at the Hard Rock Stadium’s drive-through testing site. But she suspended all in-person campaign events until she gets the results from the more accurate PCR test, which should be by Tuesday.
“She is not experiencing any symptoms,” said her campaign manager, Christian Ulvert, who also tested negative. He said all the campaign staffers who were exposed were tested and that none had tested positive.
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Higgins, too, tested negative on the rapid test and suspended campaign activities as well.
That’s leading by example. Very unlike what Vice President Mike Pence, who has had five people close to him test positive, is doing. But like Sen. Kamala Harris, who took several days off the campaign trail even though she had little or no contact with a staffer that tested positive.
Hopefully, they have also reached out to the people who they came into contact with after Richardson, who also was at a food distribution event Saturday. Levine Cava was drumming up the vote with the Dominican community in Hialeah two hours after seeing him on Friday. On Saturday, she was with Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, State Rep. Javier Fernandez and others at the Biden rally featuring President Barack Obama in North Miami. Everyone wore masks.
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Sunday, before Levine Cava and her team got tested, she was planning to tour a number of libraries to greet early voters and posted photos with Common from the first day of Souls to the Polls. Higgins was said to have met with voters in Silver Bluff.
Gelber did not return a call and text message Sunday.
Richardson posted the news Sunday afternoon on his Facebook page:
“I have some news to share with you. Just a few hours ago I tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. I started to have some mild symptoms yesterday (Saturday) around 5pm. I went to get tested this morning, and the rapid test results came back a few hours ago. I have been very diligent about wearing my mask, and there are very few instances where I have been without a mask.
I’m working with the City of Miami Beach to begin the process of contact tracing, along with assistance from the Florida Department of Health. Of course, everyone knows I have been hosting food distribution events for the past thirty-three weeks. Yesterday’s event was a no-contact drive-thru event. There was no contact with the participants in their cars as the windows were up. Also, since I am busy managing the events I don’t touch the food that is placed in cars. Further, it was an outdoor event and all the volunteers were wearing a mask and gloves.
I have already reached out to the few people who were around me in the past few days without a mask to encourage them to get tested as soon as possible, and I will continue to work with the professionals on contact tracing.
I have started the quarantine process. At this moment I am having minor symptoms and it is my hope that my health condition will not worsen. I wanted to make this public statement in the interest of being transparent about my test results and my current condition. My primary concern at this point is to notify anyone who may have been in contact with me so they can take the proper precautions for their own health.
David Richardson on Facebook Oct. 25
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