• Donald Trump spends his first full day in the White House on Tuesday since leaving the hospital where he was being treated for coronavirus.
• Joe Biden campaigns in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
• Two new polls show Biden widening his lead nationally.
• Early voting begins in Indiana and Ohio.
• Pandemic survivors have slammed Trump’s suggestion that the coronavirus is nothing to fear, with 28 days until the election on November 3.

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the United States elections. This is Joseph Stepansky.

Tuesday, October 6:

13:15 ET – Twitter raises red flag over Trump flu tweet

Twitter Inc has responded by putting a warning label on the tweet by Trump comparing the coronavirus to the flu.

Twitter said the post included potentially misleading information.

Earlier in the day, Facebook Inc removed a similar post by Trump, according to CNN.

The tweet came hours after Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, as the president has sought to down play the risk of the virus.

13:00 ET -Trump doing “extremely well,” no COVID-19 symptoms: White House physician says

Trump is doing “extremely well” and reporting no symptoms of COVID-19, a day after returning to the White House after being hospitalized with the highly contagious disease, his doctor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sean Conley, a Navy commander, said a team of physicians met with the president on Tuesday morning.

“He had a restful first night at home, and today he reports no symptoms. Vital signs and physical exam remain stable, with an ambulatory oxygen saturation level of 95-97 percent,” he said in a statement released by the White House. “Overall he continues to do extremely well.”

12:45 ET – Florida governor extends voter registration after site crash

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis extended the state’s voter registration deadline Tuesday after unexpected and unexplained heavy traffic crashed the state’s online system and potentially prevented thousands of enrolling to cast ballots in next month’s presidential election.

DeSantis will extend the deadline that expired Monday until 7 PM ET Tuesday.

Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee, who oversees the voting system, said in a statement Tuesday that the state “will work with our state and federal law-enforcement partners to ensure this was not a deliberate act against the voting process”.

12:30 ET – US Postal Service warns ruling could undermine mail before election

The US Postal Service asked a federal judge to clarify a ruling on election mail, warning the decision could hinder the agency’s ability to make prompt mail deliveries before the presidential election.

Four US judges have issued preliminary injunctions barring the  Postal Service from making service reductions ahead of the November presidential election.

The Postal Service asked Judge Emmet Sullivan to clarify his September 27 ruling warning it “would undermine the Postal Service’s ability to timely deliver the mail before the upcoming election”.

12:00 ET – White House officials block strict FDA vaccine guidelines: Report

White House officials are blocking strict new federal guidelines for the emergency release of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the New York Times.

The officials are objecting ot provision in guidelines that all-but assure that no vaccine would authorised before the election on November 3, people familiar with the approval process told the Newspaper.

Trump has repeatedly accused “deep state” actors in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of trying to slow the approval of a vaccine until after the election. He has repeatedly said, despite the most ambitious estimates from experts, that a vaccine could be ready by the election, prompting fears the administration would try to force through a vaccine before it has met safety standards.

The FDA is seeking other ways to make sure vaccines meet the guidelines, according the newspaper, including sharing the guidelines with an outside advisory committee of experts that is supposed to meet publicly before any vaccine is authorised.

11:30 ET – White House says will take more precautions to protect staff around Trump

The White House will take more precautions to protect staff around President Donald Trump following his positive test for COVID-19 last week, White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah told Fox News.

“We always take precautions at events we host, and I certainly think in light of the President’s positive test and the First Lady, we’re going to take even more for the time being to protect essential staff around him,” Farah said.

Asked by reporters if Trump would speak on Tuesday, Farah said they would hear from him in some form, though she declined to answer when asked if he planned a televised address.

10:45 ET – President Trump says he is ‘looking forward’ to the debate

While continuing treatment for coronavirus on his first full day back at the White House, US President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he was feeling great, and looking forward to the next presidential debate scheduled for October 15.

His opponent Joe Biden has said he would attend the debate if medical experts said it was safe.

It is unclear exactly when and where the president contracted the virus and how long he might remain contagious.

09:30 ET – Trump tweets US is ‘learning to live’ with coronavirus

Defying critics, Trump has tweeted that US citizens are learning to live with COVID-19, a day after he returned to the White House for further intensive treatment after being hospitalised with the coronavirus.

Trump, who returned late on Monday after nearly four days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington, was due to receive a fifth transfusion of the antiviral drug remdesivir while being treated with the steroid dexamethasone, normally used only in the most severe cases.

Trump has repeatedly played down the disease, which has killed more than one million people worldwide. The US has the world’s highest death toll from the pandemic, with more than 209,000 fatalities. Trump has also not addressed the fact that his access to healthcare and leading therapeutics is far more privileged than that of most citizens.

“Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

09:00 ET – Two polls in two days show Biden increasing national lead

Two polls in two days show Biden increasing his national lead over Trump.

A nationwide CNN poll conducted by SSRS has Biden leading by 16 points nationally over Trump, garnering 57 percent support from likely voters, compared with Trump’s 41 percent support.

Meanwhile, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Biden up 14 points nationally. Both polls were conducted after the debate last week but before Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Polling averages also show Biden ahead of Trump in six battleground states: Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona. In Pennslyvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Biden leads by more than five points, according to RealClearPolitics.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, right, speak with invited guests aboard an Amtrak train on a tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania [Andrew Harnik/The Associated Press]_______________________________________________________________

Read all the updates from Monday, (October 5) here.

Source: Read Full Article