Joe Biden cancels plans to travel to Milwaukee to accept Democratic presidential nomination

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden will no longer travel to Milwaukee this month to accept his party’s presidential nomination due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple reports.

Two unidentified people familiar with the former vice president’s travel plans told Bloomberg News on Wednesday that Biden will not attend the Democratic National Convention to deliver his acceptance speech. Unidentified officials told CNN the decision was announced internally on Wednesday morning.

Instead, Biden will accept his party's nomination in Delaware, according to CNN.

The Democratic National Convention kicks off Aug. 17 in Milwaukee with a host of mostly online festivities. Biden had been scheduled to give his acceptance speech Aug. 20.

The move is the latest example of the pandemic’s sweeping effects on the 2020 presidential election and the latest blow to traditional party nominating conventions that historically have marked the start of fall general election campaigns.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he’s considering delivering his Republican convention acceptance speech from the White House after his initial plans to hold the event in two battleground states were foiled by coronavirus concerns and health restrictions.

The United States leads the world with the most coronavirus cases and the highest death toll. Since the start of the pandemic, officials have confirmed more than 4.7 million infections and reported more than 156,000 deaths nationwide, according to numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

As of Tuesday, more than 18.5 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide and more than 701,000 people have died of the viral infection, according to Johns Hopkins.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group