Coronavirus updates: Wisconsin may run out of ICU beds in 2 weeks; Boston Marathon postponed; CVS adds rapid testing sites - USA TODAY

Posted: 29 Oct 2020 08:43 AM PDT

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic states are setting records for the most new cases and deaths in a week since the pandemic began. USA TODAY

Daily U.S. coronavirus hospitalizations surpassed 45,000 for the first time since mid-August this week as the autumn pandemic surge continues unabated.

Wisconsin is on track to run out of ICU beds, and nurses to staff them, in as little as two weeks as the state reported 5,200 positive COVID-19 cases Tuesday with only 187 beds available.

"There is nothing magical about this math," said Bill Melms, chief medical officer for Marshfield Clinic Health System. "Every single positive increases the probability or likelihood of having another patient who is hospitalized."

Two "superspreader" events in New York, a wedding and birthday party, left 56 people infected with the virus and nearly 300 in quarantine. Long Island officials said the wedding violated the state's 50-person limit while the birthday party did not.

Meanwhile, in the world of sports, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) announced that the 125th Boston Marathon will be postponed from the third Monday in April to at least fall 2021. And the Houston Texans closed the team facility down during their bye week after another player tested positive for COVID-19.

Globally, India surpassed 8 million coronavirus cases on Thursday, moving closer to surpassing the U.S. for the most infections in the world.

While India's daily infections have dropped to their lowest level this week, health experts are worried that a major Hindu festival and winter will increase the spread of the virus. The Health Ministry reported 49,881 infections and 517 fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the country's death toll to 120,527.

Here's what to know today:

The U.S. set a record this week for new COVID-19 cases over a seven-day period with more than 500,000 infections. An American is testing positive every 1.2 seconds. Daily deaths are also climbing — one of us is dying every 107 seconds, according to Johns Hopkins data.
CVS Health announced that it will add nearly 1,000 rapid COVID-19 testing sites throughout the country by the end of the year, with about 100 of them running this week in 22 states.
Boeing will cut more jobs as it continues to bleed money during the pandemic, announcing that it expects to cut its workforce to about 130,000 by the end of next year.

📈Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 8.8 million cases and more than 227,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 44.4 million cases and 1.17 million deaths. A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Tuesday shows 20 states set records for new cases in a week, while three states (Nebraska, Tennessee and Wyoming) had a record number of deaths in a week.

🗺️ Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak in your state.

This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.

Infecting young, healthy people with COVID-19 is an important, but controversial, part of creating a viable vaccine. Wochit

Wisconsin may run out of ICU beds in as little as 2 weeks if cases continue to rise

The state of Wisconsin is on track to run out of ICU beds and, more importantly, the nurses to staff them, in as little as two weeks if the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 does not drop.

On Tuesday, when the state reported a record 5,200 positive cases, only 187 of the state's 1,469 intensive care unit beds were available. Of the patients in ICUs, 319 were being treated for COVID-19.

Given the trajectory of new cases, the number of COVID-19 patients being treated could double in two to six weeks, said Bill Melms, chief medical officer for Marshfield Clinic Health System.

"There is nothing magical about this math," Melms said. "Every single positive increases the probability or likelihood of having another patient who is hospitalized."

– Guy Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

2021 Boston Marathon moved to fall due to COVID-19

The 2021 Boston Marathon will not be held in April.

The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) announced Wednesday afternoon that the 125th Boston Marathon, traditionally held on the third Monday in April — Patriots' Day — will be postponed until at least the fall of 2021.

"By shifting our focus to a fall date, we can continue to work with stakeholders to adjust the in-person experience for runners and supporters alike. Prioritizing the safety of participants, volunteers, spectators, and community members, we continue to assess all elements of the race including a potential reduced field size or weekend date," said Tom Grilk, CEO of the athletic association, in a prepared statement.

The 2020 Boston Marathon was held virtually in September after being canceled in April.

–Metrowest Daily News Staff Report

Houston Texans close team facility after player tests positive

The Houston Texans are closing down their team facility Wednesday after a player tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced.

Backup offensive guard Max Scharping was the player who tested positive, the Houston Chronicle's Aaron Wilson reports. The Texans said in a statement Wednesday that he self-isolated and the Infection Response Team began working with the NFL to perform contact tracing, in accordance with league protocols. The facility was closed for a deep cleaning.

"We are in close consultation with the NFL, as well as our team of independent doctors and specialists, and will follow their guidance regarding our scheduled bye week operations. The health and safety of our team, as well as our entire staff, are of highest priority," the team's statement read.

The Texans are on their bye week after a 35-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday dropped the team to 1-6 on the season.

–Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

Few Black Americans interested in participating in clinical trials

Black Americans distrust the government so much they're not participating in large numbers in COVID-19 clinical trials, and many say they won't get a COVID-19 vaccine – at least not until many others get it. Although the first two, large clinical trials of candidate vaccines have managed to include about 3,000 Black participants each, it hasn't been easy. And later trials might have even more trouble.

Polls show that among racial and ethnic groups, Black Americans are the most hesitant to get a vaccine once one becomes available, and their skepticism is rising fast. In one September survey, only 32% of Black adults said they would get a vaccine, down from 54% in May.

Alexandre White, a historian of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said mistrust needs to be addressed urgently. "We're seeing a deeply uncoordinated strategy," he said.

– Karen Weintraub

COVID-19 widespread testing is crucial to fighting the pandemic, but is there enough testing? The answer is in the positivity rates. USA TODAY

COVID-19 cases are surging: An American dies every 107 seconds

The U.S. set a record this week for new coronavirus cases over a seven-day period with more than 500,000 infections. An American is testing positive every 1.2 seconds. Daily deaths are also climbing — one of us is dying every 107 seconds, according to Johns Hopkins data. And daily hospitalizations have been rising steadily for more than a month, from 28,608 on Sept. 20 to more than 44,000 on Tuesday.

"There's no way to sugarcoat it: We are facing an urgent crisis, and there is an imminent risk to you, your family members, your friends, your neighbors and the people you care about," said Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, whose state is seeing one of the nation's worst outbreaks.

As winter approaches, America is facing a crucial fork in the road, said Melissa Nolan, an infectious disease expert and professor at the University of South Carolina.

"We might see a larger surge due to the pandemic fatigue Americans are experiencing," Nolan told USA TODAY. "Americans are tired of adhering to public health guidelines and getting tested."

– John Bacon

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CVS Health to add nearly 1K more rapid coronavirus testing sites by end of year

CVS Health announced Wednesday that it will add nearly 1,000 rapid COVID-19 testing sites throughout the country by the end of the year. The company said about 100 testing sites will be running this week in 22 states, including California, Arizona, Florida and New Jersey.

The tests will be free for people who meet the CDC's criteria, which includes symptoms and contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. People with insurance can get tested at no cost. A federal program will pay for people without insurance, the company said.

Customers must register on their website in advance to schedule an appointment.

Indiana could get some COVID vaccine next month, state health official says

The first people in Indiana to receive the first coronavirus vaccine could be immunized as early as November, state health officials said Wednesday.

Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said that federal officials have told her a vaccine could be shipped to the state by mid to late November. Under the state's vaccination plan, health care workers would be the first to receive it.

The Food and Drug Administration at this point has yet to approve any of the multiple vaccine candidates undergoing trials.

Pfizer's vaccine will likely be the first available in the state sometime in mid to late November, followed by Moderna's in December, Box said, though she also acknowledged that the vaccine timeline is a "rapidly developing situation, so a lot is subject to change."

– Shari Rudavsky, Indianapolis Star

'COVID toes' could last days to months after initial infection, report finds

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that some COVID-19 longhaulers had skin conditions ranging from rashes to "COVID toes" last from days to weeks to months, according to a report released Thursday.

COVID toes, pernio-like lesions characterized by redness and swelling in the hands and feet, lasted a median of 15 days in patients with suspected COVID-19 and 10 days in lab-confirmed cases. However, six patients had toe symptoms last at least 60 days and two lasted longer than 130 days.

Among 224 suspected cases and 90 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, the median duration of skin symptoms was 12 days. Some rashes and hives lasted as long as 28 days.

"This data adds to our knowledge about the long-term effects of COVID-19 in different organ systems," said Dr. Esther Freeman, director of Global Health Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital. "The skin is potentially a visible window into inflammation that could be going on in the body."

– Adrianna Rodriguez

California Gov. Gavin Newsom won't budge on reopening theme parks

As California theme park operators and employees pleaded for the state to allow the parks to reopen with coronavirus precautions, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave them a firm answer on Tuesday: No.

Though Disney and Universal parks have been open again since the summer in Florida, Newsom said California would not budge on its recently issued guidelines that require counties to achieve a low rate of infection before large theme parks such as Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm could reopen.

"We as a state are going to be driven by data and science," Newsom said at a news conference Tuesday. "And we're going to be driven by public health first."

California classifies its counties in four tiers of coronavirus spread: purple, red, orange and yellow. Purple indicates the highest spread, yellow the lowest. Orange County, the home of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, is in the red tier, the second-highest. Los Angeles County, home of Universal Studios Hollywood, is in the purple tier.

– Curtis Tate

Boeing reports $449M loss, plans to to cut 7,000 more jobs

Boeing will cut more jobs as it continues to bleed money and its revenue fades during a pandemic that has smothered demand for new airline planes.

The company said Wednesday that it expects to cut its workforce to about 130,000 people by the end of next year, or 30,000 fewer than it began with in 2020. That is a far deeper cut to its workforce than the 19,000 jobs the company said it planned to trim just three months ago.

Boeing Co. talked about the more severe job cuts on the same day it reported a $449 million loss for the third quarter, a swing from the $1.17 billion it earned in the same period last year. The loss was still not as bad as feared.

COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY

Contributing: The Associated Press

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Live election updates: Pelosi knocks Trump over 'husbands' remark; Biden up in Florida - USA TODAY

Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:48 AM PDT

Here are the biggest takeaways from a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, taken after the final presidential debate. USA TODAY

President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden are in the home stretch of this election. Refresh this blog all day for updates as the candidates make their final push.

Is the stock market rooting for Trump or Biden?

It turns out the stock market cares more about which party controls Congress than it does about which one wins the White House.

Stocks have typically thrived under legislative gridlock in Washington, and a split Congress has historically been the best scenario for investors.

Since 1950, the average annual stock return for the broad S&P 500 stock index was 17.2% under a split Congress, according to LPL Financial. It falls to 13.4% when Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and drops to 10.7% when Democrats control both chambers.

That suggests that markets may prefer divided power come November because it would make it harder for lawmakers to undo policy measures already in place, experts say.

"Markets tend to like checks and balances to make sure one party doesn't have too much sway," according to Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial.

– Jessica Menton

Stock market: Is the stock market rooting for Trump or Biden? The answer may surprise you

Chris Christie gets pranked on Cameo, to Democrats' delight

A video made Wednesday night by former Gov. Chris Christie turned out to be a prank pulled off for the benefit of a Democrat. In Montana.

Social media lit up with schadenfreude that the Republican former governor fell for a trick suggesting he supported this year's Democratic candidate for governor in Montana, Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney. Christie supports Cooney's Republican opponent, Greg Gianforte, who spent part of his childhood in Wayne, New Jersey, and graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. But Cooney tweeted the video Thursday morning saying it was "a special message" for Gianforte.

Christie said he responded to a request on the app Cameo, which allows users to request and pay for messages by well-known people. He got a request Wednesday night from a user with the handle Brad Ley requesting a "pep talk" for "Greg."

He said Greg "has been working out of state the last few years & me and his family have been trying to get him to come home to NJ. Could you give him some encouragement?"

Christie, not knowing exactly who Greg was, responded hours later to "think about everything" New Jersey has to offer.

"We've got Taylor Ham. We've got Bruce Springsteen. We've got Jon Bon Jovi. We've got the Jersey Shore. We've got the boardwalks. We've got all that stuff back here that is waiting for you," Christie said.

"More than anything else, Mike and your whole family, they want you back here. So listen, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You can come back voluntarily or maybe they'll send me out to get you. I don't think that's what you want, Greg."

He finished with: "Get back here, Greg. We need you."

Christie condemned the Cooney campaign and Democratic Governors Association, which is chaired by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who retweeted the video.

– Dustin Racioppi (Trenton Bureau)

Chris Christie: Christie gets pranked on Cameo, to Democrats' delight

Presidential poll: Biden leads Trump in Florida

Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a five-point lead over President Donald Trump among registered Florida voters, according to a Monmouth University poll released Thursday.

Among all registered voters, Biden has 50% support compared to Trump's 45%. The former vice president maintains that advantage among likely voters, with Biden holding a 51%-45% lead in the case of high voter turnout and a 50%-46% lead in a low turnout scenario.

Florida has been one of the most competitive battleground states in the country this electoral cycle, with some recent polls showing Trump narrowing Biden's lead in the state.

Still, Biden's strong support among people of color overall at 68%-23% and especially among the state's large Latino population at 58%-32%, helps to maintain his lead over the president.

– Matthew Brown

Florida presidential poll:: Biden leads Trump in final stretch before Election Day

McConnell: Chances are '50-50' that Senate control flips to Democrats

During a campaign stop Wednesday in Northern Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chances were "50-50'' that Republicans lose control of the Senate after Election Day.

"It's a 50-50 proposition. There are dogfights all over the country,'' the Republican leader told the crowd gathered at the headquarters for the Kona Ice Hawaiian-style shaved ice franchise in Florence.

McConnell said Republicans "have a lot of exposure'' in the battle for the Senate with 23 seats up for election, while Democrats have 12.

Democrats would need a net gain of three or four seats to win a majority in the Senate, which is currently held by Republicans with 53 senators. Democrats count 45 senators and there are two independent senators who caucus with Democrats.

McConnell said he's been saying for months that control of the Senate "could go either way," and he said he saw no reason to change his opinion less than a week before Election Day.

– Randy Tucker (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Mitch McConnell: Chances are '50-50' that voters flip control of Senate to Democrats

Pelosi hits Trump on remark about getting husbands back to work

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized President Donald Trump for telling women he would help their husbands recover from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and get them back to work.

"It isn't even true, but in addition to that, what decade is he living in, what century is he living in?" the California Democrat said of Trump at her weekly news conference Thursday. "So completely removed from the realities of life."

Earlier this week, Trump told women at a Michigan rally that "we're getting your husbands back to work, and everybody wants it." During the event, Trump touted his support among women, claiming that they would back him in the presidential election because "they want security, they want safety, they want law and order."

Trump to women at Michigan rally: 'We're getting your husbands back to work'

Pelosi spent much of the news conference knocking the president, including over his handling of the pandemic. She said she was sure Democrat Joe Biden would come out victorious in the election and put the country on a better track.

"I feel very confident that Joe Biden will be elected president on Tuesday," Pelosi declared.

She outlined some of Democrats' priorities should Biden win the election, including lowering the cost of prescription drugs and eliminating dark money from politics. Pelosi also stressed the need to come to a deal on another COVID-19 relief package and explained she wanted a bill passed before a potential change of power in January so if Biden wins, there would be a clean slate for Democrats to tackle priorities that have been blocked by Republicans.

– Christal Hayes

Top GOP official says cyber attackers stole $2.3 million from Republican Party of Wisconsin

The top official of the Republican Party of Wisconsin said Thursday that hackers stole $2.3 million during a crucial phase of the presidential campaign.

Party Chairman Andrew Hitt said the loss was attributed to a phishing attack that has been reported to the FBI.

The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office would not confirm or deny they were investigating, citing their protocols.

"It was a devastating moment," Hitt said of when the discovery was made.

Hitt said the party discovered the attack Oct. 22 and by Friday morning realized the money was taken from accounts and the FBI was notified. The money had been earmarked to pay vendors working on President Donald Trump's reelection campaign, Hitt said.

– Bill Glauber and Patrick Marley (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Wisconsin GOP: Top GOP official says cyber attackers stole $2.3 million from Republican Party of Wisconsin

North Carolina: Republicans, Democrats both see hopeful signs in early voting numbers

More than half of North Carolina's voters have now had their say in the 2020 election. As of Thursday morning, 3.86 million North Carolinians had cast ballots, up 65% from this point in the 2016 election, with still three more days of early voting and Election Day to come.

Some pundits have suggested the state could surpass the total number of ballots cast in the 2016 election, 4.7 million, prior to Election Day.

Parsing the early voting data, political experts and organizers say, offers reasons for both Democrats and Republicans to be encouraged.

After Democrats opened a 10% turnout advantage over the first days of early voting, Republicans have narrowed the gap to less than 3% over the past week. Republicans can also boast to having registered more new voters this year, adding 158,000 Republican registrations compared to 104,000 for Democrats as of last weekend, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.

North Carolina: Both Republicans and Democrats see hopeful signs in early voting numbers

"I do think it's reasonable to conclude is that the early voting number don't tell us this is going to be some huge Democratic victory," said John Hood, chair of the board of the John Locke Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank in Raleigh. "There could still be a huge Democratic victory. I just don't think you see that in the early voting numbers."

Republicans have typically outperformed Democrats on past election days, which Susan Roberts, a political science professor at Davidson College, called a "red mirage" that usually gets balanced out by Democrats' propensity to vote earlier.

Democrats retain a slim edge in early voting turnout, 57.08% to 54.47%, and have requested more than twice the absentee ballots. And despite recent GOP gains, Democrats still outnumber Republicans in registration by around 400,000 voters.

– Brian Gordon, USA TODAY Network North Carolina

Florida judge leading a vote-counting board donated to Trump 12 times, breaking judicial rules

A Florida judge who heads Duval County's vote-counting board has donated repeatedly to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign and other Republican efforts, and his home is covered in signs supporting Trump, despite rules requiring judges like him refrain from donations or public support.

Duval County senior Judge Brent Shore has served as chairman of the canvassing board because of his role as a county judge. Yet Florida judicial rules bar judges from political donations of any kind. And canvassing board rules bar members from "displaying a candidate's campaign signs."

He first donated $20 in 2016 to Trump's initial campaign for president. He has donated 11 more times since then to Trump for a total of $170, as well as donating $178 in the last two years to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Violating the judicial canons could land Shore, who wouldn't answer questions for this story, in front of the Judicial Qualifications Commission, where judges are prosecuted and even removed from their positions depending on the seriousness of their violations.

– Andrew Pantazi (Florida Times-Union)

Florida: Florida judge leading a vote-counting board donated to Trump 12 times, breaking judicial rules

'You're a crook': Ossoff attacks Perdue in bruising Georgia Senate debate

Democratic Senate challenger Jon Ossoff tore into incumbent Georgia Sen. David Perdue during a Wednesday debate, knocking the Republican over his response to the coronavirus pandemic and allegations of insider trading.

"It's not just that you're a crook, senator," Ossoff chided during the debate. "It's that you're attacking the health of the people that you represent."

Perdue is among a group of senators who came under fire after records found that they engaged in stock trading after a Jan. 24 briefing on the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 100 trades selling around $825,000 in stocks and buying $1.8 million more were made on Perdue's behalf.

Perdue's office has released ads denying any wronging, alleging that because the stock trades were carried out by a third-party he committed no wrongdoing.

– Matthew Brown

'It's not just that you're a crook': Ossoff attacks Perdue during Georgia Senate debate

Presidential poll: Biden holds small lead over Trump among Florida Latino voters

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden holds a slight lead over President Donald Trump among Latino voters in the battleground state of Florida, according to a poll published Thursday.

Almost half (48%) of Latino likely voters in Florida said they support Biden, with 43% saying they back Trump, according to a state poll from Telemundo. Less than 10% of Latino voters said they're undecided (7%) or voting for another candidate (2%).

Latinos will be the largest ethnic or racial minority group in the 2020 election, with 32 million eligible to vote. Florida, which has 29 electoral votes, is considered vital to Trump's reelection bid.

But Biden is floundering with Cuban voters, a key Latino voting bloc in the state. According to the poll, Trump holds almost a 50 percentage point lead over Biden, 71% to 23% among Cuban voters.

– Rebecca Morin

Poll: Biden holds small lead over Trump with Latino voters in pivotal Florida

The news cycle is jampacked with polls. But have you ever wondered how polls actually work and what they mean? USA TODAY

Here's why two masks are better than one for Biden

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has been a stickler for masks on the presidential campaign trail, wearing not one – but two – at the same time.

"I walked in here with this mask, but I have one of the N95 masks underneath it. And I left it in the dressing room, the room I was in before I got here," Biden said during his town hall on ABC this month.

But he didn't explain why he puts a surgical mask over the more effective N95. For extra filtering? To protect the more valuable N95?

Turns out it's for comfort.

"I don't like it around my ears," Biden said of the N95, as he was getting into his SUV Wednesday night, "so I hold it on with this mask."

– Maureen Groppe

'Most valuable surrogate':: Spouses are key in battleground states, lending firepower in final push

Presidential poll: Biden up 12 points among likely voters in the final stretch

With less than a week before Election Day, former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a 12-point national lead over President Donald Trump, according to a CNN poll released Thursday.

Among likely voters, 54% of voters back Biden versus 42% who support Trump.

Broken down by gender, the poll reveals Biden is leading among women, with him leading Trump 61%-37% among women and 48%-47% among men.

Voters of color support Biden by a nearly 50-percentage-point margin: 71%-24%.

Senior voters are also solidly backing Biden, with the former vice president leading Trump 55%-44%, according to the poll. Voters under 35 also back Biden 68%-30%. Voters age 35 to 64 are evenly divided with 48% backing each candidate.

The CNN poll was conducted from Oct 23 to Oct 26 and surveyed 1,005 Americans nationally. It has a margin of error of 3.8 points among likely voters.

– Matthew Brown

Presidential poll: 3 of 4 voters worried about violence ahead of Election Day, Biden leads Trump

Americans are increasingly worried about what will happen at the finish line of this year's tumultuous election, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, including whether the voting will be peaceful and the outcome broadly accepted.

Three of 4 voters express concern about the possibility of violence on Election Day. Only 1 in 4 say they are "very confident" that the nation will have a peaceful transfer of power if Democratic challenger Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump.

Biden holds a steady 8-point lead over Trump in the nationwide poll, 52%-44%, taken after the final presidential debate last Thursday. That reflects little change since the survey taken at Labor Day, the launch of the fall campaign season, when the former vice president led by 7 points, 50%-43%.

– Susan Page and Sarah Elbeshbishi

USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll: Ahead of Election Day, 3 of 4 voters worry about violence in a divided nation

We're five days away

There are now just five days to Election Day, and approximately 75 million people have already voted, according to numbers compiled by @electproject.

However, millions of mail ballots are still outstanding, and the date the USPS recommends to mail them back to make state deadlines has passed. Officials stress those ballots now be dropped off in person.

Voters in Oklahoma can head to the polls starting Thursday for early voting, and it is the last day to register to vote in Nevada.

Fact check: What's true and what's false about voting by mail in 2020

Where are the candidates heading Thursday?

Both candidates and their running mates are expecting to be busy again on Thursday. Here's a quick look at the schedules.

Florida: Both Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump will hold events in Tampa.
Trump will also hold a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a state that is closely contested in the polls and with a crucial Senate race.
Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Des Moines, Iowa and Reno, Nevada. Officials in Nevada have warned against hosting an event of more than 250 people due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Sen. Kamala Harris will hold a virtual fundraiser at 7:15 p.m with no travel

More: Trump's campaign made stops nationwide. Coronavirus cases surged in his wake in at least five places.

Voting updates:

There are still many details and battles to work through in several states as voting becomes increasingly scrutinized. Wednesday saw a handful of major developments.

The Supreme Court refused for a second time Wednesday to change Pennsylvania's election rules, handing Republicans a defeat in their effort to reimpose an Election Day deadline for the return of absentee ballots. The unsigned order means that for now, ballots received by Nov. 6 will be counted.
SCOTUS also refused on Wednesday to second-guess election rules in North Carolina, a key battleground state, that allow absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive up to nine days later.
Polls show Biden ahead of Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan, and slightly leading the president in Georgia.

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