President Trump is delivering remarks in Janesville, Wisconsin, on Saturday night, a day after the state reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases.
According to the state’s Department of Health Services, nearly 4,000 new cases were confirmed on Friday – the highest number the state has seen in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
Although the president his delivering his remarks outside at an airport, it is in a county that has a “very high case activity.”
A Trump campaign spokesperson said the campaign has taken “strong precautions” for upcoming events.
“Every attendee has their temperature checked, is provided a mask they’re instructed to wear, and has access to plenty of hand sanitizer. We also have signs at our events instructing attendees to wear their masks,” deputy national press secretary Courtney Parella said in a statement.
There has been limited social distancing at previous Trump campaign events, however, and few attendees have been seen wearing masks.
Dr. Bob Freedland, along with other Wisconsin doctors, stepped up Friday to urge the cancellation of Mr. Trump’s rally, “CBS This Morning: Saturday” reported.
“President Trump’s rallies endanger public health and they have become platforms for him to spread medically inaccurate information,” he said.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has also expressed concerns.
“Unless something extraordinary happens between now and then, he’ll be encouraging a superspreader event,” Evers said on Thursday, Spectrum News reported. “As governor of the state of Wisconsin I sure would ask him personally, have people wear a mask, have them be physically distant.”
The Associated Press reported that people attending the rally will have to park over two miles away and take a shuttle bus to the event.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, slammed Mr. Trump for visiting Wisconsin while the state is “in the grips of one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country.”
“President Trump is knowingly downplaying the severity of the virus. At virtually every turn, he has panicked and tried to wish it away, rather than doing the hard work to get it under control,” Biden said in a statement Saturday. “And today, 150,000 fewer Wisconsin workers are employed than when President Trump took office and his failed response to the pandemic has crushed Wisconsin’s economy.”