If the candidates are to be on the same stage there cannot be mingling of air between the two nor the audience. If Pence doesn't want a plexiglass barrier, then he MUST wear a mask. The debate stage has to be assessed for "air circulation" to be sure the air is vented out of the building from where the candidates and the audience are seated. That means there is a high rate of air exchange pushing the air to the floor and out of vents to the outside.
By Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey
Vice President Mike Pence (click here) is requesting that no plexiglass dividers be placed on his side of the stage at Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate, after an announcement Monday by the Commission on Presidential Debates that dividers had been agreed to as a safety measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Marc Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, said the vice president’s team does not view plexiglass dividers as medically necessary, given other safety measures at the debate, including a 12-foot distance between Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and daily testing of both candidates.
The commission and the Biden campaign both said Tuesday they understood that the Pence team was in agreement with the notion of plexiglass barriers. But the Pence team suggested they did not want any such dividers around the vice president, regardless of what Harris does....
