Perdue Goes Into Coronavirus Quarantine Ahead Of Tuesday Runoff

ATLANTA, GA — U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s campaign announced Thursday that he and his wife are going into quarantine after being exposed to a staffer with COVID-19.

Neither Perdue nor his wife have tested positive yet for the coronavirus.

“Both Senator Perdue and his wife tested negative today, but following his doctor’s recommendations and in accordance with CDC guidelines, they will quarantine,” read the statement released Thursday afternoon to social media. “The Senator and his wife have been tested regularly throughout the campaign, and the team will continue to follow CDC guidelines.”

Perdue’s quarantine comes at a particularly inopportune moment. Locked in a tight runoff race with Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, Perdue will have to sit out a joint campaign event with U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler planned for Thursday night, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Depending on whether or not Perdue tests positive over the next few days, the coronavirus may also prevent him from campaigning over the weekend — and attending a rally Monday night in Dalton with President Donald Trump. The Atlanta newspaper reported that campaign spokesperson John Burke couldn’t say whether or not Perdue would join Trump and Loeffler at the election’s eve rally.

Perdue and Loeffler regularly wear face masks at campaign events, but attendees at their rallies — and at most Republican rallies, including Trump’s — usually don’t.

Perdue's quarantine starts on New Year's Eve, the same day that Georgia posted a one-day record of 8,551 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Statement from our campaign: pic.twitter.com/3U3TJ9Va9l
— David Perdue (@Perduesenate) December 31, 2020

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