Barack Obama has turned 60 in the middle of a raging pandemic. However, the former President has decided to postpone the celebrations as there has been a monumental rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The news was brought to the public by Hanna Hankins, a spokesperson for Barack Obama. Given the rapid spread of the delta variant, the former President and Mrs. Obama have decided to “scale back the event to include only family and close friends.”
Nevertheless, the family is extremely appreciative of people who have poured birthday wishes from close and afar, affirmed Hankins. As far as the small celebration is concerned, nearly 700 people are expected to convene at Barack Obama’s mansion on Martha’s Vineyard, a small island in Massachusetts.
Actor George Clooney and Talk show host Oprah Winfrey are expected to join the former President in celebrating his milestone birthday. David Axelrod, a former top adviser of Obama said that the guests were questioned about their vaccination status. They also had to get tested for Covid-19 and provide the results on arrival.
The White House has been making significant efforts to alter the Covid-19 guidance on masks and large gatherings in the past two weeks. The amended policies come in light of the rising infection cases all over the state.
At present, about 52% of the entire U.S population has not taken the first dose of the vaccine, as recorded by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccines have proven to be a great preventive measure in face of the deadly virus.
However, given the percentage of unvaccinated people, the virus is likely to mutate in the form of different variants. Ultimately, the infection rate has multiplied, causing an increasing number of hospitalizations throughout the country.
Charlie Baker, governor of Massachusetts said he wasn’t invited to Barack Obama’s birthday party and even if he was, the answer would have been negative. According to Baker, 700 people at an event did not sound like a favorable prospect. Given the current infection rate, he expressed concerns about older and immunocompromised people catching the virus.
“Even if you are vaccinated among some of those more vulnerable populations, we should all be very careful,”
said Baker.
