Every four years, the Republican and Democratic national conventions draw tens of thousands of people to a city to formally nominate each party’s candidate for president.

But this year, as officials ban large-scale gatherings to slow the spread of Coronavirus, the parties are facing decisions over whether to postpone the conventions or somehow hold them remotely.

The GOP has a bit longer to plan, since it’s not set to host its convention until late August in Charlotte. It’s set to nominate President Trump for re-election.

But the Democrats are still set to gather mid-July in Milwaukee and they say they’re making contingency plans.

“Safety is our priority, of course, and we want to make sure we’re being very mindful of that," said Michael Blake, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and State Assembly member representing the Bronx. "But the priority also when it comes to the convention is to select a Democratic nominee and defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are still in the running.

The DNC didn’t detail what alternative plans it’s considering, but the New York state party chair says it should be ready to postpone the event until at least August.

“I would have the convention — and it can be moved to the very end of August, just before the Republican convention, which I think starts on August the 24th, if we started ours a week before that, which is typical, we’ve done that in the past — then I think we have plenty of time to catch up, get organized," said Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Committee.

Jacobs says he doesn’t see how a gathering of this scale and import could be held entirely digitally. Another key DNC member says the delegate voting must take place, even if it’s not in person.

“Whether we have that convention on our phones, whether we have it in person, whether we have fundraisers and grand and wonderful events or we just go to joebiden.com and give online, the bottom-line to the whole discussion is: We’re going to have a nominee, we’re going to have a general election and we have to rally as a country for our health, for our security and to preserve our democracy," said Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic national committeeman.

Both parties say they’re in touch with state and local officials at the convention sites.