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As an infectious diseases physician & someone who has practiced public health for the last 25 years, I'm appalled by @VP Pence's lack of respect for basic protective measures. This disregard for science- and more importantly, the health of those in the room with him- is stunning.
With President Trump & many other senior staff ill, the @VP has cast aside CDC guidance by breaking quarantine. Putting aside concerns about continuity of government, ask yourself - would I want to be maskless in a room with someone who had his exposures? https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html
Especially in light of CDC's new guidance on the potential for airborne spread of the virus (meaning it can linger in the air for minutes or hours), the Trump administration should be taking *more* precautions with meetings and tomorrow's VP debate. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/05/cdc-coronavirus-airborne-transmission/
Instead, after forcing an in-person debate, Pence has taken this one step further by objecting to plexiglass barriers, which could provide some protection for his opponent and the moderators, and argued that the debaters should stand closer (!!) together. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/06/us/trump-vs-biden#pences-team-objects-to-plexiglass-dividers-for-his-debate-with-harris-where-maskless-spectators-will-be-ejected
This disrespect for public health is inexcusable, but is par for the course with Pence. As a governor of Indiana, he presided over one of the worst documented HIV outbreaks in the past 2 decades after refusing to take recommended public health measures. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/28/indiana-hiv-outbreak/26498117
Just this April, Pence even met with Mayo clinic patients - some possibly immunocompromised - without wearing a mask. His argument (that he's tested regularly so isn't a risk) didn’t hold up then, and it definitely doesn’t now that Trump is positive. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-meets-with-mayo-clinic-patients-staff-while-not-wearing-face-mask/2020/04/28/57c4200c-897e-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html
This much is clear- Pence needs to leave infection control to the experts. Trump’s #superspreading administration needs to wake up to the crisis they are worsening, and take actions to save lives, not threaten them.
