Leaders of the Democratic party are urging party members in the House and Senate to stay away from the Democratic National Convention, slated for mid-August, as coronavirus cases surge around the country. The gathering in Milwaukee would normally bring together the party’s most influential members to nominate a candidate for the 2020 election, presumed this year to be Joe Biden. The New York Times reports that Chasseny Lewis, a senior adviser to the convention planning committee, wrote to congressional aides, “We have been working closely with state and local public health officials, as well as epidemiologists, and have come to the hard decision that members of Congress should not plan to travel to Milwaukee.” A plugged-in DNC member familiar with the ongoing planning discussions told The Daily Beast on Thursday evening that while there is still a possibility that some House or Senate delegates may be present in person in Milwaukee, “they still have to vote with their delegations which won't be present in person.” To date, more than 3.5 million Americans have contracted COVID-19, and nearly 140,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.