Oct 1: Trump, Melania, and Hope Hicks, a Trump advisor, test positive for COVID-19.  He is hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He receives oxygen twice along with Regeneron’s investigational antibody cocktail, remdesivir, and dexamethasone.  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issues a proclamation limiting each county in the state to one drop-off point for mail ballots. The Trump administration drop the cap on the number of refugees it will let into the United States in the next fiscal year to 15,000, the lowest since the 1980 Refugee Act was enacted. Amazon reports that 19,816 of its workers, 1.4 percent of its workforce, were infected with the coronavirus between March 1 and Sept. 19. 

Oct 2: 22 more people in Trump’s staff test positive for COVID-19, including Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway, his political advisors, Kayleigh McEnany, his press secretary, and Christ Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and Trump sycophant.  After months of stalemate, a coronavirus relief bill seems to be around the corner. 

Videos

NBC News. President Trump Flown To Walter Reed Medical Center For Observation | NBC News, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO9ccUdlchI.

Documents

Mason, Jeff. “Trump Starts ‘Quarantine Process’ after Aide Hope Hicks Tests Positive for Coronavirus.” Reuters, October 1, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-hicks-int-idUSKBN26N0FV.

Burger, Ludwig, and Kate Kelland. “Older, Overweight and Male: Trump’s COVID Risk Factors Make Him Vulnerable.” Reuters, October 2, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-trump-risk-int-idUSKBN26N23I.

Bordalo, Pedro, Katherine Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer. “Older People Are Less Pessimistic about the Health Risks of Covid-19.” NBER Working Paper Series. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2020. http://www.nber.org/papers/w27494.pdf.

McBride, Jessica. “Amy Coney Barrett Tested Negative for COVID-19 After Concern It Spread at Nomination Event.” Heavy.Com (blog), October 2, 2020. https://heavy.com/news/amy-coney-barrett-covid-19-coronavirus/.

Nelson, Steven. “Sen. Mike Lee Tests Positive for COVID-19 after Amy Coney Barrett Visit.” New York Post (blog), October 2, 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/10/02/sen-mike-lee-tests-positive-for-covid-19-after-amy-coney-barrett-visit/.

Nelson, Steven. “Ronna McDaniel, RNC Chairwoman, Tests Positive for COVID-19.” New York Post (blog), October 2, 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/10/02/ronna-mcdaniel-rnc-chairwoman-tests-positive-for-covid-19/.

Goodluck, Kalen. “Tribes Defend Themselves against a Pandemic and South Dakota’s State Government,” October 2, 2020. https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-covid19-tribes-defend-themselves-against-a-pandemic-and-south-dakotas-state-government.

Evanega, Sarah, Mark Lynas, Jordan Adams, and Karinne Smolenyak. “Coronavirus Misinformation: Quantifying Sources and Themes in the COVID-19 ‘infodemic’.” The Cornell Alliance for Science. Ithaca, NY: Department of Global Development, Cornell University, October 1, 2020. https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Evanega-et-al-Coronavirus-misinformationFINAL.pdf.

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