The COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of several presidential primaries over the last few weeks. Ultimately, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) dropped out of the Democratic race, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the last candidate standing. Biden even won Alaska's primary Saturday, where Sanders — who performed well there in 2016 — still had a shot at the vote-by-mail-only contest, signaling that the senator's chances at mounting a comeback were slim.
But the question over how the virus will affect the general election between Biden and President Trump in November still looms. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday's edition of State of the Union he's hopeful voting will be mostly standard by then. Like so many other things, though, it depends on how well the U.S. follows through on its efforts to slow the spread of the disease. Right now, things are trending in the right direction, but Fauci preached caution.
Even if the virus does bounce back, though, Fauci believes the country may be better prepared to test for and treat the virus and therefore could avoid going to some of the extreme lengths again.
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