President Donald Trump has returned to the campaign trail less than two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus.
He told thousands of supporters, many not wearing masks, that he could give them “a big fat kiss”, at a rally in the battleground state of Florida.
His rival, Joe Biden, speaking in Ohio, accused the president of “reckless behaviour” since his diagnosis.
The two presidential candidates are scrambling to secure votes with three weeks until the 3 November election.
Opinion polls suggests Mr Biden has a 10-point lead over Mr Trump nationally. However his lead in some key states is narrower – as is the case in Florida, where the Democrat is 3.7 points ahead, according to an average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics.
Battlegrounds like Florida and Ohio are crucial for gathering the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House, which is not determined by a simple popular ballot count.
Mr Trump, 74, tested positive for Covid-19 some 11 days ago, and was admitted to hospital a day later.
But on Sunday his personal doctor said he was no longer a Covid transmission risk to others and disclosed on Monday that his most recent tests were negative over consecutive days, although he did not give the dates.
BBC