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Aug 28, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Sanjay Gupta: "There will be people who became infected" after attending Trump's RNC speech

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CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta said Friday that some attendees at President Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention are likely to contract the coronavirus due to the event's lack of social distancing.

The state of play: The event on the White House's South Lawn saw more than 1,000 attendees in close proximity. Most did not wear masks and were seated inches apart.

What he's saying: "It's really frustrating. It's mind-boggling, and I think it shows that there's certain segments of the population still have not learned or are not paying attention to what this virus is. The virus is the constant. It is not changed over the last several months. It is still a very contagious virus, it is still very much circulating," Gupta said.

  • "There will be people who became infected as a result of that event last night, and there will be people who will spread it, and possibly require hospitalization, may even die as a result of that event last night."

The big picture: Trump's speech also painted a rosier picture of the U.S. coronavirus response, and made bolder predictions, than the facts fully support, per Axios' Sam Baker.

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