Wallace acknowledged that "the three people on that stage" Tuesday night in Cleveland "were all 70-plus" and "in the high-risk factor" of elderly people more likely to have complications from the virus.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is 77, Trump is 74 and Wallace is 72. The virus can have wide-ranging effects on different people, even at advanced age, from relatively mild symptoms to devastating breathing problems.

Biden, Trump and Wallace did not wear masks at the debate. Biden and Trump did not shake hands at the outset of the debate, a precaution that was agreed to by both campaigns.

The candidates' podiums and the moderator's desk were all many feet apart. Wallace said Friday that "what you saw on the TV is the closest I got to the president" during the debate.

"You know, I've been trying to sort of go over it in my mind. It's got to have been 10, 12 feet," he said of his proximity to Trump.

Although Biden shared a brief exchange with Wallace after the debate finished, Wallace said he did not interact with Trump.

"He never approached me at the end of the debate," Wallace said. "Vice President Biden did briefly to basically — I'm trying to remember the exact words. Basically, to say, 'I bet you didn't know you had signed up for this.'"

Trump repeatedly bulldozed through Wallace's questions and Biden's responses Tuesday, resulting in the nonpartisan commission responsible for organizing the debates announcing Wednesday that "additional tools" would be made available "to maintain order" at future forums.

Wallace revealed Friday all debate attendees were administered a Covid-19 nasal swab test staff by the Cleveland Clinic, which hosted the event, "so everybody that was in that hall had tested negative."

Wallace also pointed out that multiple members of the president's entourage at the debate declined to wear masks, despite requests from Cleveland Clinic staff.

"Certainly there was no sign during the debate of any problems with the president, in terms of his health," Wallace said. "But it is worth noting that the different people treated the safety rules inside the hall differently."

In a later appearance on Fox, Wallace said that he hopes members of Trump’s inner circle learn a lesson about mask-wearing after the president’s brush with the virus.

“I've always been disturbed, frankly, that people think the mask is a political issue and wearing the mask or not wearing the mask says something about your politics,” he said, pointing out that health experts call mask-wearing one of the surest means for fighting the virus until a vaccine is ready.

“If there is one lesson from today, it's here is the president of the United States who lives in the biggest bubble that exists on the planet and he got it, through no fault of his own,” Wallace argued. “And so the answer is wear the damn mask.”

The anchor also lashed out at one of Trump’s newest — and most controversial — advisers on the pandemic, Scott Atlas.

Atlas, a doctor who specialized in radiology and neuroradiology, has consistently offered a rosier view of the pandemic more in line with the president’s and has unnerved other Trump health advisers. He told Fox News on Friday that he expected Trump and the first lady to make a “complete, full and rapid recovery” from the virus, a pledge Wallace dismissed even as he noted he hoped Atlas’ prediction comes true.

“Well, I'm going to say something, and folks, I'm just trying to give you the truth. Dr. Scott Atlas is not an epidemiologist, is not an infectious disease specialist. He has no training in this area at all,” Wallace pointed out.

“There are a number of top people on the president's coronavirus task force who have had grave concerns about Scott Atlas and his scientific bonafides,” he continued, acknowledging that he would likely get “a lot of pushback from this.”

But, he added, while “I hope everything he says is true,” Atlas “can't know because the president is just in the earliest stages of this and two, you know, I understand the desire of the White House and its political people to try to talk this down. I'm not certainly trying to talk it up, and I hope and pray the president is fine.”

Wallace urged viewers to “follow the scientists” and “listen to people like Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx,” the nation’s top infectious diseases expert and the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, respectively, who Wallace said “have been largely cut off. Listen to the independent people who don't have a political axe to grind. I frankly don't think Scott Atlas is one of those people.”