Democratic officials tell members of Congress not to travel to national convention

"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," wrote Chasseny Lewis, a member of the convention committee, in an email to congressional aides. "No delegates will travel to Milwaukee and Caucus and Council meetings will take place virtually."

Democrats announced in June that they would scale back this summer's convention considerably and advised state delegates not to travel to Milwaukee. Officials had already pushed back the convention by a month as the country grappled with spiking coronavirus cases and deaths.

Last week, organizers informed state parties and convention delegates that they will allow for nearly two weeks of virtual voting ahead of the convention, which is slated to take place August 17-20.

"Ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone involved with the 2020 Democratic National Convention drives every decision we make, and this communication reiterates our guidance from several weeks ago that all members of state delegations—including elected leaders—should plan to conduct their official business remotely. Last week, we sent delegates guidance on how they will vote and we look forward to sharing more details on other opportunities for delegates in the coming weeks," said Katie Peters, a spokesperson for the convention committee, in a statement Thursday.

CNN previously reported that the party's presumptive nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, will still accept the party's nomination and deliver his acceptance speech from Milwaukee, which is a key city inside a crucial battleground state. The campaign is planning for the vice presidential nominee to do the same a night earlier, a campaign official previously told CNN.

But much of the programming will be virtual, not hosted from Milwaukee. Organizers are billing the event as a "Convention Across America," and they say it will feature speeches, music and other appearances from locations and major landmarks across the country. Organizers say Democratic voters in Wisconsin will be a key part of the programming but the convention will also be reimagined digitally, with satellite locations across other swing states.

Republicans also said this week that they are planning to hold a scaled-back national convention in Jacksonville, Florida, but delegates are still expected to attend in person. Attendance will be limited to the 2,500 regular delegates for the first three days of the convention, with each allowed to bring one guest and alternate delegates also allowed to attend, capping total attendance at about 7,000.

The new plans for the Republican convention include smaller crowds, fewer speeches and the use of indoor and outdoor venues in an attempt to salvage an in-person convention in Florida, which has become one of the country's leading coronavirus hot spots. The announcement came after months of efforts by Republican officials to deliver the kind of in-person convention that President Donald Trump had demanded while dealing with the public safety and health concerns caused by the virus.