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NASCAR to allow fans at Alabama and Florida races

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2019. Photo: Michael Bush/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

NASCAR will allow some fans to attend Florida's Dixie Vodka 400 race and Alabama's Geico 500 race this month, the company announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: The most coronavirus infections in Florida have been reported in Miami-Dade County, where the speedway is located. In contrast, Alabama's Talladega County is not reporting a high rate of coronavirus spread.

Details: Both speedways say that fans will be required to wear face coverings at all times, undergo a temperature check and social distance by 6 feet.

  • The Talladega Speedway is capping guest capacity at 5,000 people for its race on June 21.
  • The Homestead-Miami Speedway is only admitting 1,000 Florida military service members to the race on June 14.

The big picture: More than 1,000 new coronavirus infections have been reported every day in Florida for the past week, according to the state health department's tracker. Daily positive cases have started to decline in Alabama in recent days.

Go deeper: Coronavirus curve rises in Florida

Go deeper

Orion Rummler
Sep 16, 2020 - Health

CDC director suggests face masks offer more COVID-19 protection than vaccine would

CDC director Robert Redfield suggested in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that face masks are "more guaranteed" to protect against the coronavirus than a vaccine, citing the potential for some people to not become immune to the virus after receiving the shot.

What he's saying: "These face masks are the most important, powerful public health tool we have. And I will continue to appeal for all Americans, all individuals in our country, to embrace these face coverings. I've said if we did it for 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks, we'd bring this pandemic under control," he said.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation
Sep 17, 2020 - Health

Poll: Biden beats Trump on health care, but it's not the top issue

Reproduced from the Kaiser Family Foundation; Chart: Axios Visuals

Swing voters in three swing states prefer Joe Biden over President Trump on health care and the coronavirus — but those aren't their most important issues, according to the latest KFF-Cook Political Report poll.

The big picture: The economy is the most important issue to these voters, and they give the advantage there to Trump. But Biden dominates the next tier of issues in this poll of swing voters in Arizona, Florida and North Carolina.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 24 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Health: CDC director defends agency's response to pandemic — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Biden readies massive shifts in policy for his first days in office.
  3. Vaccine: Fauci: 100 million doses in 100 days is "absolutely" doable.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again.
  5. Tech: Kids' screen time sees a big increase.
  6. World: WHO team arrives in China to investigate pandemic origins.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow