More than 300 Republicans will wear masks when they meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, later this month for the 2020 GOP national convention.
Convention organizers this week gave North Carolina officials their proposal to keep attendees, including 336 delegates, safe when they gather for Republican National Committee business from Aug. 21-23 and confab activities on Aug. 24 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan, submitted by the convention’s arrangement committee in consultation with a public health working group, includes pre-travel COVID-19 testing, daily symptom tracking, and temperature checks, as well as mandatory physical distancing and face coverings.
“Our top priority continues to be the safety and health of all attendees, participating vendors, staff and the Charlotte community,” said Max Everett, the convention’s vice president and CIO. “We were extremely thorough in our planning and grateful for our local partners, including Atrium Health, Novant Health, city and county officials and other stakeholders who are working to ensure that the official convention business conducted here in the Queen City is a healthy and safe experience for all.”
The embrace of face coverings, a sticking point during previous negotiations, follows President Trump describing the wearing of masks as “patriotic” last month.
The update coincides with Democrats turning what was supposed to be a partially virtual convention into a wholly online affair.
Democratic convention organizers on Wednesday announced presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his yet-to-be-revealed running mate would accept their party’s nominations remotely. They were originally slated to travel to Milwaukee but scrapped their itinerary along with all the other out-of-state speakers as coronavirus cases climbed in the Midwest.
