Barack Obama to host 60th birthday party with COVID protocols: Report

Former President of the United States Barack Obama will turn 60 on August 4 and he will be celebrating his birthday this weekend with a party in Martha’s Vineyard, reported CNN quoting sources. According to the report, amid concerns over Delta variant of COVID-19, safety protocols will be put in place to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

The party will be held at an outdoor location on Friday and will follow all US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention public health protocols. All the guests will be tested for COVID-19 and a COVID safety coordinator will be on the site.

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According to CDC, Martha’s Vineyard in Dukes County has currently been designated as an area of “moderate” COVID -19 community spread.

Last week, the CDC recommended people to mask wearing indoors in areas of “high” and “substantial” transmission, which includes nearly two-thirds of all US counties.

Martha’s Vineyard has been Obama’s vacation place for almost every year of his presidency. In 2019, the former first family reportedly bought a 29-acre property on the island that was listed for nearly $12 million.

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Massachusetts has a high vaccination rate. But this July Fourth holiday, Provincetown, Massachusetts — also on the Cape — was the site of a large outbreak of breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among vaccinated people, prompting the CDC to change its face mask recommendations.

Dr Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institute of Health, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that it is “best to mask” in a large group where you don’t know other people’s vaccination status.

“Maybe there are some immunocompromised people there, who though they are vaccinated, are not fully protected, the dynamic changes. There will be need for common sense there,” he said.