AUCKLAND, New Zealand — National polls opened for early voting on Saturday for what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called the "Covid election."
Driving the news: NZ quashed the virus after one of the world's toughest lockdowns and went 102 days with no detected cases before COVID-19 re-emerged. There are now seven active domestic cases.
Former President Obama on Friday wished President Trump and Melania Trump a "speedy recovery," per pool reports, after the president and first lady tested positive for the coronavirus.
What he's saying: "Although we’re in the midst of a big political fight, and we take that very seriously, we also want to extend our best wishes" to the Trumps, Obama said.
The prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand have agreed to "safe travel zone" plan that will be gradually rolled out, Australian Deputy PM Michael McCormack announced Friday.
Details: McCormack said the travel "bubble" will initially see Kiwis who aren't in a COVID-19 hot spot permitted to fly to New South Wales and the Northern Territory from Oct. 16 without mandatory quarantine. But NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made clear that Kiwis will have to go into quarantine upon their return.
President Trump will work from Walter Reed military hospital in the Washington, D.C. suburbs "for the next few days" after testing positive for the coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday.
What they're saying: The move is "out of an abundance of caution," McEnany said. The president reportedly experienced mild coronavirus symptoms on Friday. Doctors have given him an experimental antibody cocktail.
President Trump's aides aren't answering basic questions about "who knew what when" about his coronavirus diagnosis — and a lot of those questions are coming from inside the house.
Why it matters: Some current and former White House officials have been privately complaining about the reckless attitude internally toward social distancing and mask wearing, feeling they are being put at risk unnecessarily every day when they show up to work.
World leaders were sending well wishes on Friday to President Trump and first lady Melania Trump after they tested positive for the coronavirus.
What they're saying: The Kremlin press office said Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram wishing the Trumps well, saying: " I am confident that your vital energy, high spirits, and optimism will help you cope with the dangerous virus," per Interfax.
Joe Biden said he received two COVID-19 tests on Friday after news that President Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for the virus, and the former vice president's team cancelled one of its previously planned events for safety concerns.
Driving the news: "We wanted to make sure that we're doing everything by the numbers,"Biden said during remarks on the economy in Grand Rapids, Mich. "And so I got to two COVID tests this morning. One in Delaware and one by the former White House doc who came up. Everything is clear, we wanted to make sure everything was cleared before I came."
Chris Wallace, the Fox News anchor who moderated Tuesday's presidential debate, urged the network's viewers on Friday to "wear the damn mask."
Why it matters: Fox News, particularly the network's opinions hosts, has been accused of spreading coronavirus misinformation, which one study suggested may have kept millions of Americans from taking the pandemic seriously.
White House physician Sean Conley issued a statement Friday detailing the type of coronavirus test that President Trump took before receiving a positive result, as well as his current COVID-19 treatment.
President Trump has tested positive for COVID-19, raising questions about his condition, the health of others in his orbit, and what this means for the campaign, the markets, public health policy and more.
Axios Re:Cap digs in with reporters Jonathan Swan, Mike Allen, Sam Baker, Dion Rabouin and Sara Fischer.
President Trump's previously scheduled campaign events will all be virtual or delayed as Election Day nears, after he and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus, the campaign announced Friday.
Driving the news: A flurry of positive COVID-19 test results were released by the White House and surrounding politicians on Friday, after Trump and Melania Trump said they tested positive.
There were fewer cars on the road last spring during the height of the pandemic, but traffic fatality rates increased 30% in the second quarter as evidence suggests drivers engaged in more risky behavior, federal officials say.
Why it matters: The sharp reversal in what had been a three-year trend toward lower traffic deaths raised alarms within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, where officials vowed to dig deeper.
"We've never seen trends like this and we feel an urgency ... to turn this around as quickly as possible," NHTSA deputy administrator James Owens said.
What they found: Total traffic volume fell 16% during the first half of 2020, NHTSA said in a release, while traffic deaths fell just 3%.
The fatality rate during the second quarter was 1.42 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, sharply higher than the first quarter rate of 1.10, which was in line with historical trends.
A second NHTSA study of trauma centers found seriously injured or fatal crash victims took risks during the pandemic that included speeding, driving impaired, and not using their seat belts.
For example, the study revealed a higher prevalence of alcohol, cannabinoids, and opioids in crash victims during the quarter compared to the months prior to the pandemic.
The bottom line: Risky behavior, along with a potential reduction in law enforcement and safety messaging during the pandemic, could have contributed to increased fatality rates, NHTSA concluded.
Global airlines are pushing for widespread coronavirus testing as an alternative to quarantine measures and other travel restrictions that have dampened passenger demand and decimated the industry.
Why it matters: Airline officials have pegged the industry's recovery to the discovery of a coronavirus vaccine, but it could be mid-2021 before one is widely available.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) plans to self-quarantine for ten days after he tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, he announced Friday.
Why it matters: Lee, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was at the White House last Saturday to watch President Trump introduce federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court nominee. He also met with Barrett at the Capitol on Sept. 29.
President Trump is experiencing "mild" coronavirus symptoms after testing positive, a maskless White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters on Friday.
Why it matters: The president is at high risk for a severe COVID-19 infection, due to his age at 74 and his body mass index, which puts him just over the line into obesity, as recorded in his last two annual physicals.
Why it matters: Trump is 74 years old, which generally puts him at higher risk for severe illness from the virus, per CDC guidelines. The president was experiencing "mild symptoms" on Friday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday and has been isolated at home in Michigan since last Saturday after a family member's positive test, the RNC said in a statement.
Why it matters: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive on Thursday shortly after Hope Hicks, one of the president's closest White House aides, tested positive. McDaniel was last with Trump a week ago, per the New York Times' Maggie Haberman.
Joe Biden tweeted Friday that he hopes President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have "a swift recovery" after news broke that the pair tested positive for coronavirus.
What's next: It remains to be seen if Biden will suspend his own campaigning, as he was within feet of Trump at Tuesday night's debate. Hope Hicks, one of the president's closest confidants and West Wing aides, also tested positive after traveling to attend the debate — where she and the president's family did not wear masks.
President Trump is at a high risk for a severe coronavirus infection.
The big picture: The White House physician said that both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are "well at this time," but Trump carries multiple risk factors that could lead to serious symptoms over the next few days.
The state of play: Trump and other positive staff will be in isolation while recovering from the virus. It is unclear when or where they contracted it, including whether Trump had the virus while debating former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday. Top White House staff is tested for COVID-19 daily.
President Trump, who had talked and acted like he was medically invincible, tweeted just before 1am that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus.
Why it matters: The shocking announcement has personal, political, medical, financial and national security ramifications. Election Day is 32 days away. Markets hate uncertainty, and we now have the biggest X factor in the world.
President Trump's tweet on Friday announcing that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus quickly become his most retweeted and liked tweet ever.
Why it matters: The tweet — sent at 12:54 a.m. ET — set records while most of the nation was asleep, so it's bound to get even bigger.
U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday morning, following news early on Friday that President Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus.
By the numbers: The S&P 500 fell 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 400 points (or 1.6%), while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%. The declines
President Trump tweeted Thursday that he and First Lady Melania Trump "will begin our quarantine process" after adviser Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus.
Driving the news: Trump confirmed to Fox News host Sean Hannity Thursday night that Hicks tested positive for the virus, and said both he and First Lady Melania Trump have since been tested and are awaiting their results.
