U.S. Vice President Mike Pence faced criticism on Tuesday for not wearing a face mask while touring the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. 

Video shows Pence meeting a Mayo employee who had recovered from COVID-19 and was donating plasma. Everyone in the room was wearing a mask except for Pence. 

He also was not wearing a mask while visiting a lab where coronavirus tests are performed despite a requirement by the medical facility that all visitors wear one.

The Mayo Clinic tweeted that it had informed the vice president of its mask policy prior to his arrival. The tweet was later removed.

Pence said he has been frequently tested for the virus and that he was following CDC guidelines that indicate a mask is good for preventing the spread of the virus by those who have it.

"And since I don't have the coronavirus, I thought it'd be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible healthcare personnel, and look them in the eye and say 'thank you,'" Pence said.

Meanwhile, U.S. cases of COVID-19 surpassed more than one million on Tuesday. Total deaths were 58,365, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. 

The COVID-19 deaths now surpass the number of American soldiers killed in the 20 years of the Vietnam War – 58,220.

The next country with the highest number of coronavirus cases is Spain with 232,000 cases. 

Meat plants stay open 

President Donald Trump on Tuesday planned to order meat processing plants concerned about coronavirus outbreaks to stay open to protect the food supply in the United States.  

With concerns about food shortages and supply chain disruptions, Trump is expected to sign an executive order using the Defense Production Act to mandate that the plants continue to function, a senior administration official said.

The five-page order is designed to give companies such as Tyson Foods Inc and others legal cover with more liability protection in case employees catch the virus as a result of having to go to work.

The order will also include guidance to minimize risk to workers who are especially vulnerable to the virus, such as encouraging older workers and those with other chronic health issues to stay home, the official said. 

Ohio tests vote-by-mail  

In Ohio, presidential primary voters are testing out the first almost entirely vote-by-mail election during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ohio's in-person primary was delayed just hours before polls were supposed to open last month, prompting legal challenges and confusion.

Overall turnout looked to be lower: The Ohio Secretary of State's office said that about 1.5 million ballots had been cast as of midday Saturday, down sharply from the state's 2016 presidential primary, when around 3.2 million ballots had been cast.

Ohio's vote is being closely watched as a case study for how to proceed with U.S. elections if the pandemic doesn't ease. States have taken drastically different approaches, with Wisconsin proceeding with in-person voting earlier this month and New York saying Monday it would cancel its presidential primary, which was scheduled for June.

Some governors have suggested they would consider moving to an all-mail voting system for the November general election, something President Donald Trump has strongly opposed. The National Conference of State Legislatures says five states currently conduct all elections entirely by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah.

There will still be some in-person voting on Tuesday. Ohio law guarantees that any voter who doesn't receive a ballot they requested by the legal deadline has the right to vote in person, meaning they could appear at county boards if they don't get one by Tuesday afternoon – or potentially sue.

Clinton backs Biden 

Hillary Clinton, the first woman to become a major party's presidential nominee, endorsed Joe Biden's White House bid on Tuesday, continuing Democrats' efforts to coalesce around the former vice president as he takes on President Donald Trump.

Clinton made her announcement during a virtual Biden campaign town hall to discuss the coronavirus and its effect on women. Without mentioning Trump by name, Clinton assailed the Republican president and hailed Biden's experience and temperament in comparison.

"Just think of what a difference it would make right now if we had a president who not only listened to the science... but brought us together," said Clinton, who lost the 2016 election despite beating Trump in the national popular vote. "Think of what it would mean if we had a real president," Clinton continued, rather than a man who "plays one on TV."

With her historic candidacy, Clinton remains a powerful – and complex – figure in American life. Her 2016 campaign inspired many women, and her loss to Trump resonates to this day. The female candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary often faced skepticism that a woman could win the White House.

Biden has pledged to select a woman as his vice president.

Second outbreak on navy ship  

The number of coronavirus cases aboard the USS Kidd rose to 64 as the Navy destroyer pulled into port at San Diego on Tuesday to get medical care for the crew and to disinfect and decontaminate the ship.

The Kidd is the second Navy ship to have an outbreak of the disease while at sea, the other being the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that has been docked at Guam for a month.

The Roosevelt has more than 900 sailors with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the entire crew has now been tested.

Veterans home outbreak 

Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S.

While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers' Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state's top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action.

The home's superintendent, who's been placed on administrative leave, has defended his response and accused state officials of falsely claiming they were unaware of the scope of the problem there.

The superintendent, Bennett Walsh, said earlier this month state officials knew that the home was in "crisis mode" when it came to staffing shortages and were notified early and often about the contagion at the facility.

Staffing problems that plagued the home for years contributed to the virus spreading like wildfire, said Joan Miller, a nurse at the home.

Because staffing was so tight, workers from one unit were constantly moving to other units to help out — and bringing their germs with them, she said. At one point, a unit was shut down because there wasn't enough staff to operate it, and those veterans were moved into close quarters in other parts of the building, she said.

"Veterans were on top of each other," she said. "We didn't know who was positive and who was negative and then they grouped people together and that really exacerbated it even more," said Miller, who spoke through a mask during a break from her job at the facility.

Military flyover  

Jets from Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds flew over New York City in a tribute to the medical personnel, first responders and other essential workers involved in fighting the pandemic.

The planes from the two demonstration squadrons flew in formation over New York and Newark beginning at noon. The planes later fly over Trenton, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Pedestrians, cyclists and police officers patrolling the Brooklyn Bridge pulled out their smartphones to film the flyover on a bright blue-sky day.

"We are incredibly honored to have the opportunity to salute those working on the frontline of the COVID-19 response, we are in awe of your strength and resilience," said Navy Cmdr. Brian Kesselring, U.S. Navy Blue Angels commanding officer and flight leader.

The flyovers fulfill training requirements for the pilots, who must fly a minimum number of hours to maintain proficiency, according to military officials, who said the squadrons have had to cancel many performances since the virus outbreak. The flyovers do not involve additional costs to taxpayers, officials said.

(With input from Reuters, AP)

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