Tuesday,  Oct 6th, 2020

Azerbaijan accuses the Armenian Armed Forces of attacking the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline with banned cluster munitions, killing a civilian in Goranboy District. Armenia rejects the accusation. (RFE/RL)

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller tests positive for COVID-19. (CNN)

New York state will reinstate restrictions on businesses, houses of worship and schools in and near areas where coronavirus cases are spiking, governor Andrew Cuomo said. The new rules will affect parts of Brooklyn, New York and Queens in New York City, sections of Orange and Rockland counties in the Hudson Valley, and an area within Binghamton in the Southern Tier. This restrictions will take effect no later than Friday.

White House blocking more stringent coronavirus vaccine guidelines

The White House is blocking strict new coronavirus vaccine guidelines proposed by the Food and Drug Administration due to a provision that would likely prevent any vaccine from being authorized before the November election, The New York Times and Politico report. The guidelines, intended to reassure the public that coronavirus vaccines are being held to a common standard, were submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for approval on Sept. 21, but White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has intervened, the Times reports. The chief reason given was resistance from drugmakers, Politico reports, though drugmakers have publicly and privately supported the new guidelines. Trump has been promising a vaccine before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Source: The New York Times, Politico

Joe Biden says wearing a mask should be ‘viewed as a patriotic duty’

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday said it’s never been clearer that “masks matter,” saying during an NBC News town hall in Miami that donning a face covering should be “viewed as a patriotic duty to protect those around you.” Biden talked about President Trump becoming infected by the coronavirus, and said he “would hope that the president having gone through what he went through — and I’m glad he seems to be coming along pretty well — would communicate the right lesson to the American people. Masks matter.” Moderator Lester Holt brought up a new poll that found two in three people believe Trump is at least partially responsible for becoming infected with the virus, and Biden said that “anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter, I think is responsible for what happens to them.” Source: The Guardian

The End