Americans infected with coronavirus can break quarantine to vote in person at the US Election tonight, according to health chiefs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says voters in isolation have ‘the right’ to cast their ballot to determine whether current Republican President Donald Trump should remain at the White House for a second term – or if Democrat rival Joe Biden should take control.
‘Voters have the right to vote, regardless of whether they are sick or in quarantine’, the CDC said in a statement. The virus has claimed the lives of at least 231,000 Americans – as the pandemic enters what one health official described as the ‘most concerning and most deadly phase’, the Washington Post reported.
But the organisation, part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, warned anyone who has tested positive for coronavirus must take steps to ‘protect poll workers and other voters’.
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Offering safe voting guidance on its website, the CDC wrote: ‘There are steps you can take to help you vote and minimize your risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘The more prepared you are, the less time you may have to spend at the voting site.’
Voters are urged to maintain social distance by staying 6ft apart from others, wear a mask and wash their hands regularly.
The CDC added: ‘You should also let poll workers know that you are sick or in quarantine when you arrive at the polling station.’
Almost 100 million people voted early to decide on who would steer the nation through the coronavirus crisis, which has wiped out millions of jobs and devastated the economy.
Now election day voters have a final chance to choose between two candidates who have both declared their rival as ‘fundamentally unfit’ to lead the nation during the pandemic.
Trump is said to be trailing behind Biden in a number of battleground states as he attempts to win the 270 electoral college votes necessary to remain in power.
He has threatened to take legal action to block the counting of ballots received after election day – claiming it could lead to ‘cheating’.
But around 20 states allow mail-in ballots which arrive after the polls close to be counted, with some states making changes in response to the pandemic.
More than 86,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the US yesterday – seeing the total number surge to almost 9.3million, according to data tracked by the Washington Post.
Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming — are said to have reported record numbers of hospitalizations.
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