The 2nd presidential debate will be virtual 'to protect the health and safety of all involved'

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will not be meeting in person for next week's debate.

The Commission on Presidential Debates on Thursday announced that the second 2020 presidential debate between Trump and Biden, which is scheduled to take place on Oct. 15, will be held virtually. It was previously set to take place entirely in person at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami, Florida.

Trump and Biden will be in separate locations for the debate, while the moderator and the town hall meeting participants will be at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, organizers said.

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This decision comes after Trump last week announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 days after the first 2020 presidential debate, although Biden has tested negative for the coronavirus multiple times since then. After Trump's diagnosis and subsequent hospitalization, there had been questions as to whether the next two debates would go forward at all. Trump had said earlier this week he was still planning to participate in the debate; Biden said that "if [Trump] still has COVID, we shouldn't have a debate." On Wednesday, the first and only vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) took place in person.