Donald Trump urged to cancel Wisconsin rallies by governor and doctors after coronavirus surge
Donald Trump has been urged to cancel weekend rallies in Wisconsin by its governor and doctors after the state saw a surge in coronavirus cases.
Governor Tony Evers called Mr Trump’s rallies reckless amid a 22 per cent spike in Covid-19 cases over the last week.
Wisconsin also set a new record with 27 deaths from the virus on Wednesday according to official data.
Mr Trump is due to hold campaign events at airports in the cities of Green Bay and La Crosse, with thousands of mostly unmasked supporters expected to attend.
Mr Evers, who is a Democrat, said that the president should consider not holding the events in a pandemic “red zone.”
“The president could do two things: one is maybe not come to these two municipalities and cities that are ranked right up towards the top of all the places in the country,” said Mr Evers.
“The second thing that could be done is for him to insist that if people are there, they wear a mask. He can make that happen. He could wear one too.
“Those are the two things that he could do to make sure that it doesn’t become a super-spreader event.”
The Trump campaign says that the outdoor events have not been a cause of the spread of the virus.
Doctors in Wisconsin have also voiced their concern at Mr Trump holding large events in a state.
“Those of us in the medical community are very worried about that,” said Dr Paul Casey, medical director of the emergency department at Green Bay’s Bellin Hospital.
“We're very concerned about any large gathering, not only weddings, funerals, but much less a very large rally with a bunch of people together without masks.
“We are nearing a crisis in my community.
“This spike we're seeing in Brown County, Wisconsin, should be a wake-up call to anyone who lives here that our community is facing a crisis.”
So far more than 200,000 Americans have died and 7.2m have tested positive for Covid-19.
