Biden makes Covid response first priority
British-born doctor part of president-elect’s new task force charged with tackling the pandemic
President-elect Joe Biden yesterday unveiled a new coronavirus task force, which included a British-born former US surgeon-general, as he told Americans: “Let’s wear a mask. Let’s get to work.” Mr Biden said getting the pandemic under control was a priority for his administration, pointing out that projections showed the United States could still lose 200,000 people before the vaccine was widely available, and there was a “dark winter” ahead.
PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden yesterday unveiled a new coronavirus task force, which included a British-born former US surgeon-general, as he told Americans: “Let’s wear a mask. Let’s get to work.”
Mr Biden said getting the pandemic under control was a priority for his administration, pointing out that projections showed the United States could still lose 200,000 people before the vaccine was widely available, and there was a “dark winter” ahead.
Speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, he offered a lengthy and impassioned plea to Americans to wear masks.
He said: “We could save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months.
“So please, I implore you, wear a mask. Do it for yourself. Do it for your neighbour. A mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling the country together.
“It won’t be forever, but that’s how we’ll get our nation back.”
Mr Biden was briefed by his newly formed team yesterday and spoke afterwards about what lies ahead.
The task force’s advisory board will include 10 experts, from immunologists and epidemiologists to biodefense experts and top public health officials.
They will be led by three co-chairmen, among them Dr Vivek Murthy, 43, the former US surgeon-general and son of immigrants from Karnataka, India, who moved to Huddersfield in the midSeventies.
When he turned three, the family relocated to Miami, Florida, where Dr Murthy’s parents established their medical practice. ractice. Dr Murthy went on to gain degrees ees from Harvard and Yale before founding nding the organisation Doctors For America. merica.
As vice-admiral admiral of the US Public Health Service ervice Commissioned Corps, he commanded a service of 6,600 public lic health officers dedicated to addressing health threats from m Ebola to Zika.
Dr Murthy, thy, who became surgeon-general general under the Obama administration ministration when
Mr Biden was vice-president, was s the youngest person to take ake up the post.
Mr Biden’s n’s coronavirus board will l also include Rick Bright, ht, the whistleblower who ho says he was ousted from m his post as head of the e Biomedical Advanced d Research a nd Development e l o pment Authority, the agency charged with developing a vaccine, accine, for raising concerns about coronavirus preparedness.
Mr Bright went on to warn Congress that Donald Trump, the president, had no “master plan” to fight the virus. Wasting no time in unveiling his own master plan after the election was called on Saturday, Mr Biden also laid out proposals to tackle Covid-19, such as securing funds for ramping up testing and tracing, acquiring additional protective equipment, and investing $25 billion (£19 billion) in vaccine manufacturing and distribution.
The 77-year-old Democrat said there was no time to spare to tackle the pandemic, with the number of new cases going above 100,000 for several days running. The country has now passed 10 million cases, according accordi to Johns Hopkins University.
The Biden administrat administration said he would work with local go governors and mayors to mandate mask masks in public. The president- ele c ct will als o encourage the Centre Centr for Disease Control and Preven Prevention to take a more active role i in providing specific guidance to communities about whe when they need to shut down.
Mr Biden has already said he w will l ook to expand healthcare access by buttressing the Affo Affordable Care Act, th the 2010 law known as Obamacare. H However, the act fa faces a l egal challe challenge at the S upre upreme Court today, brought by Repub Republicans fighting to d dismantle it.