PITTSBURGH — Beaver County leaders have confirmed to Channel 11 that President Donald Trump’s planned visit to western Pa. on Monday has been canceled.
We have learned he was looking at holding an event in Ambridge in Beaver County, but that visit was scrapped Friday morning.
Local leaders said he was going to visit the port of Ambridge, the biggest industrial facility in the county. However, officials there told Channel 11 they did not know about the visit or its cancellation.
It’s not clear why the visit was canceled, but sources tell Channel 11 it’s possible the president could visit another part of Pennsylvania.
This comes after the surprise news just yesterday, when sources told Target 11′s Rick Earle that Trump’s “advance team” is in the area preparing for his visit.
A White House correspondent with The New York Times reported the news Wednesday night. The correspondent, Maggie Haberman, tweeted that the campaign is exploring holding an event, which she specified would not be a rally, in Pittsburgh on Monday. She cited people “familiar with the discussions.”
City leaders previously expressed their concerns over a possible visit from the president, days after he was hospitalized with the coronavirus.
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“I thought those who even were in the presence of COVID-19 are to quarantine for 14 days? One sure way that Pittsburgh’s residents can be heard ... Vote ... like your life depends on it,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto tweeted.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald also responded to the news on Twitter, saying “Thanks but no thanks. After a spike this summer, we are doing very well on stopping the spread of #COVID19. We won’t jeopardize that success & I hope the *President of the United States* would never deliberately try to do so.”
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that people who test positive for COVID-19 can be around others after 24 hours with no fever and 10 days since symptoms first appeared.
President Trump’s medical team has said he started feeling sick on Oct. 1.
Peduto said the city did not receive an official correspondence from the Secret Service about a potential visit from the president.
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An infectious disease doctor with Johns Hopkins said there’s a strong chance Trump would not be contagious by Monday.
“If it’s been 10 days or so since the President has been symptomatic, he likely isn’t contagious, and there are ways to confirm that by doing some supplementary tests or just waiting the 10 days before he would go somewhere and interact with other people," said Dr. Amesh Adalja.
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