In an updated direction published Sunday, the agency said voters who have tested positive or may have been exposed to the coronavirus should follow the usual recommendation to wear a mask, stay at least six feet away from others, and sanitize their hands before and after voting. “You should also let poll workers know that you are sick or in quarantine when you arrive at the polling location,” the CDC’s website says.
For tens of thousands of Americans, that may be the only possibility: People who got their test results in the past few days missed the cutoff to ask for an absentee ballot in most states and getting an exemption typically requires surmounting difficult logistical hurdles. But the possibility of casting a ballot alongside someone who is sick is unlikely to defuse the stress regarding mask-wearing at polling places — something that endures optional in multiple states.
WATCH: JIMMY FALLON MOCKS UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
While turnout numbers and exit surveys consume much of the national consciousness, the constant growth of new infections across the country presents no sign of abating.
The United States reported more than 86,000 new coronavirus cases Monday, driving the total count to nearly 9.3 million. Twelve states — Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming — reported record numbers of hospitalizations.
WATCH: THE FASCINATING STORY OF BRIDGETTE GABRIEL
More infection is expected across the United States in the coming months even though the country is extremely prepared to deal with another wave of the virus, according to former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
“The sheer fact that we’re going to be infecting so many people right now is probably going to mean the death tolls get well above 1,000 for a sustained period of time. It’s a very grim couple of months,” he said Tuesday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
TRUMP STAGES HUGE RETURN TO NEW YORK, SEE WHERE, WHEN AND HOW!
Rural areas are handling stress. In Utah, overwhelmed hospitals are repurposing pediatric beds for adult patients and intend to soon start bringing in doctors who don’t typically work in hospitals.
“We’re asking people to do things that they trained for, maybe when they were a resident, but they haven’t done in three years,” Russell Vinik, chief medical operations officer at the University of Utah Health, told the paper Monday.
Reopening plans have been rolled back and restrictions have been stiffened in three New England states — Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine — as well as Illinois. Although officials nationwide have steered clear of sweeping closings such as those forced in the spring and have been hesitant to tell schools to switch back to virtual learning.
Discover alternative ideas that will make you think
Engage in mind bending debate
Earn points, rise in rank, have fun
