Debates in the time of COVID-19
Salt Lake City, Oct. 5: A TV broadcasts news on the pandemic in a press filing centre at the University of Utah, soon to play host to the vice-presidential debate.Patrick Semansky/The Associated Press/The Associated Press
Keeping candidates and their staff safe from COVID-19 has been an increasingly urgent problem for U.S. election organizers, especially since President Donald Trump tested positive for the virus only days after Sept. 29′s debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Several top White House aides have been diagnosed with COVID-19, though Vice-President Mike Pence – who shared the debate stage in Cleveland with Mr. Trump – tested negative.
When Mr. Pence and Mr. Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris face off in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 7, there will be extra precautions. The candidates will be seated more than 12 feet apart with a Plexiglas shield between them, whereas Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden had seven feet of open space between lecterns. Everyone who attends, including news media, will have to be tested for COVID-19 and anyone not wearing a mask will be escorted out. (Masks were also mandatory at the Trump-Biden debate, but members of Mr. Trump’s family didn’t wear them and waved away clinic staff who offered them.)
Debates in the time of Trump
Cleveland, Sept. 29: President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate.Olivier Douliery/Pool vi AP/The Canadian Press
Wednesday’s debate will be the only one between Ms. Harris and Mr. Pence, and it remains to be seen whether any more will be held with Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden. Originally, three televised presidential debates were scheduled, but the first one was an unruly mess in which the President insulted and interrupted his rival and the moderator who tried to cut him off. Mr. Biden demanded that future moderators have the power to disable candidates' microphones, and the Commission on Presidential Debates said it would look into ways to bring structure and order to future debates.
More reading
The Trump-Biden debate
Watch some of the key moments from Sept. 29's debate between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.
Reuters
2020 U.S. election debate: Key takeaways from a chaotic evening with little policy substance
U.S. presidential debate commission promises overhaul after chaotic Trump, Biden match
John Doyle: That was gross. Trump can’t do TV debates any more
Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis
Trump leaves hospital as questions swirl around his health and campaign
David Shribman: Trump’s COVID-19 crisis creates an even greater crisis for the U.S.
U.S. election in general
David Shribman: How Donald Trump wins, and how Joe Biden prevails
In the U.S., coronavirus is a failure decades in the making. Is there time to do better?
Compiled by Globe staff
With reports from Adrian Morrow, Tamsin McMahon, Reuters and The Associated Press
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