Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris both have tested negative for COVID-19 ahead of Wednesday night’s debate. Pence tested negative on Tuesday, according to his physician. After negotiations between the two sides, the two politicians will be separated by plexiglass barriers to protect each other from infection. Thus far, 27 staff members in the White House have tested positive for the virus.
President Trump will need medical clearance to participate in the next debate on Oct. 15. White House physician Sean Conley said that Trump has been free of COVID-19 symptoms for 24 hours. He has had no fever for four days and has not needed supplemental oxygen since his initial hospitalization. Trump returned to the Oval Office on Wednesday.
“There’s not a guarantee” that the next debate will take place, said Steve Cortes, a senior adviser to Trump’s reelection campaign. “We’re going to need, the president’s going to need, medical clearance. Now, we’re very confident that he’s going to get it,” he said to Hill.TV’s show Rising.
To date, over 7.5 million coronavirus cases and more than 211,000 deaths have been confirmed in the United States.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar said they’ll introduce a resolution requiring mandatory mask-wearing in the Senate as well as a “robust testing regime” for everyone who works in the Capitol complex. The two Democrats said the new protocols are needed since three senators tested positive for the coronavirus last week.
Wisconsin will activate a field hospital at fairgrounds near Milwaukee as COVID-19 cases surge in the state. “We hoped this day wouldn’t come, but unfortunately, Wisconsin is in a much different, more dire, place today, and our healthcare systems are beginning to become overwhelmed by the surge of COVID-19 cases,” Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said. The field hospital will open on Oct. 14.
The Tennessee Titans may face sanctions from the NFL for holding an unauthorized workout after a COVID-19 outbreak forced the closure of their training facilities. The facilities were shut down on Sept. 29 as more players tested positive for the coronavirus. In all, 20 Titans have tested positive. The unauthorized practice took place at a local Nashville school, Montgomery Bell Academy, the next day. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo out last week saying that violations of NFL coronavirus protocols could lead to the loss of draft picks and even the forfeiture of games.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh paused the reopening of the city’s public schools due to a rise in the coronavirus. Walsh based the decision on Boston’s positivity rate, which is now over 4%. Boston’s public schools reopened in-person learning for a few of the city’s 54,000 public school students on Thursday. More students were to return to in-person learning on Oct. 15. That has been pushed back to Oct. 22.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of members of the Orthodox Jewish community protested Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new coronavirus restrictions. A large protest gathered in Borough Park, burning masks and chanting, “Jewish lives matter.” Earlier in the week, Cuomo ordered new restrictions for nine New York City neighborhoods after cases of the virus spiked in those areas. The new restrictions included limiting religious gatherings.
French health authorities reported 18,746 new COVID-19 cases over the past day on Wednesday, the most of the pandemic. President Emmanuel Macron promised new restrictions as a response.
Iran, one of the first countries to be hit hard by the pandemic, has registered a record number of COVID-19 deaths, according to the Financial Times. In the past day, 239 patients have died, and 4,274 are in critical condition.
Spain, too, has seen the greatest number of daily deaths of its second wave, according to El Pais: 261. Madrid accounts for about half of the new cases and deaths.
