Published 18:22 IST, March 9th 2020
US Presidential hopefuls to continue election campaigns despite Coronavirus risks
US presidential hopefuls, Trump, Biden, and Sanders have claimed that their campaigns will progress as planned despite the risks posed by the Coronavirus
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Despite having more than 500 confirmed cases in the United States, 2020 Presidential hopefuls Biden, Trump, and Sanders will continue their rallies as planned. According to public health experts, large scale rallies are breeding grounds for potentially deadly illnesses. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on March 8 claimed that his campaign was considering when it would be prudent to cancel large campaign rallies.
Campaigns to go on
According to reports, Bernie Sanders claimed in a series of interviews that the most important thing is the protection of the health of the American people and that his campaign was in talks with public health officials from all over the nation. Sanders added that this was an issue that every organisation and every candidate had to face.
As per reports, federal health authorities have advised older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions to avoid crowded places because they are more at risk from the virus. Fear of the Coronavirus has already led to the cancellation of music and arts festivals and other events around the country.
The fear of the virus has not led to Donald Trump and his Democratic rivals, Sanders and Biden from cancelling big rallies. Each man is in his 70s. Reports indicate that Biden's campaign was following the guidelines of state and federal health experts on the Coronavirus outbreak. But despite the growing risk, there were no changes in his campaign activities.
According to reports, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh on March 8 announced that Donald Trump's campaign was proceeding as normal and that they would announce rallies when they are ready to announce rallies.
As per reports, Sanders drew more than 7,000 people to a convention hall in Detroit on March 6. Sanders' campaign also claimed that 15,000 people attended his rally held on March 7 in Chicago’s Grant Park.
As per reports, Mercedes Lopez who is a 56-year old owner of a restaurant at Grand Rapids attended an open-air Sanders rally on March 8. She claimed that she is not afraid of the virus, she believes that the government has artificially increased the concern in order to distract voters from other negative things like increasing petty crime and official corruption.
18:22 IST, March 9th 2020