Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Campaign's Approach To Positive COVID Tests Differs To Trump
AP: Biden Campaign Flips COVID-19 Threat Into New Trump Contrast
With the election quickly approaching, the episode was another example of how Biden and Trump are responding in vastly different ways to the pandemic. While Trump’s aides offered shifting and sometimes contradictory explanations following a White House coronavirus outbreak, Biden’s team offered more specifics. And as Trump returns to aggressive campaign travel before massive, often unmasked crowds, the Biden campaign reinforced its commitment to following public health guidelines. (Barrow, 10/15)
ABC News: Aviation Staffer Who Has Flown With Biden In Recent Days Tests Positive For COVID-19
The Biden campaign has announced that someone who flew with former Vice President Joe Biden to Ohio on Monday and Florida on Tuesday has tested positive for COVID-19. The positive result was discovered through contact tracing that the campaign undertook following the positive diagnosis of Sen. Kamala Harris’ communications director and a non-staff flight crew member. (Nagle, 10/15)
Politico: Harris Cancels Travel After Biden Campaign Announces Positive Covid Tests
Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled all campaign travel through this weekend “out of an abundance of caution” after a flight crew member and her communications director tested positive for coronavirus, the Biden campaign announced Thursday. Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, has tested negative for coronavirus three times over the past week — including on Thursday — the campaign added. (Oprysko, 10/15)
Also —
KHN: Majority Of Voters Tilt Toward Biden As Health Issues Weigh Heavily
At least half of voters prefer former Vice President Joe Biden’s approach to health care over President Donald Trump’s, suggesting voter concern about lowering costs and managing the pandemic could sway the outcome of this election, a new poll shows. The findings, from KFF’s monthly tracking poll, signal that voters do not trust assurances from the president that he will protect people with preexisting conditions from being penalized by insurance companies if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) (Huetteman, 10/16)
The Washington Post: How The Mask Became A Symbol Of Biden's Campaign
It was a jarring image: a presidential candidate appearing on-camera with a mask covering his nose and mouth, muffling his words as he strained to speak through a black face covering that looked like something from a dystopian movie. America was just two months into the coronavirus pandemic — a time when masks were not routine, Zoom gatherings felt novel, stay-at-home orders had begun lifting and Americans were grappling with a new kind of life amid contagion. But Joe Biden had been wearing a mask for weeks when he interacted with others in private, and he now decided it was time to go public. (Linskey, 10/15)
