The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Worrisome virus surge will land on Biden's lap
Hours after President- elect Joe Biden declared the coronavirus a top priority, the magnitude of his task became starkly clear Sunday as the nation surpassed 10 million cases and sank deeper into the grip of what could become the worst chapter of the pandemic yet. What’s happening
The rate of new cases is soaring and for the first time is averaging more than 100,000 a day in the United States, which has reported more COVID- 19 cases than any other country. An astonishing number — 1 in 441 Americans — have tested positive for the virus just in the last week.
With 29 states setting weekly case records, the virus is surging at a worrisome level in more than half the country. Nationwide, hospitalizations have nearly doubled since mid- September, and deaths are slowly increasing again, with few new interventions in place to stop the spiraling outbreak.
The nation’s worsening COVID19 outlook comes at an extremely difficult juncture: President Donald Trump, who remains in control of the nation’s outbreak for the next 73 days, is openly at odds with his own coronavirus advisers, and the country is heading into a cold winter, when infections are only expected to spread faster as people spend more time indoors.
In a victory speech Saturday night, Biden said he was quickly focusing his attention on the pandemic. But he faces a nation divided over-mask rules and business shutdowns, even as experts say the situation may further deteriorate by his inauguration.
At the White House, Trump has largely shuttered the coronavirus task force, insisted without evidence that the nation is “rounding the corner” in the fight against the virus and suggested that he might fifire the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
All of it comes as colder weather in much of the nation will force people indoors; as college semesters end and students return home; and as holiday gatherings threaten to sow new outbreaks.
“I see this as a very precarious moment,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who said that the Trump administration had “basically thrown in the towel” on trying to control the pandemic, while Biden and his team have nothing to wield but “moral power and social power” until Jan. 20.
What Biden can do
Experts pointed to a number of steps a yet- to- be- sworn- in Biden could take to help control the pandemic. The options range from making a behind- the- scenes push for governors to issue mask orders and for Congress to supply more money for coronavirus testing, all the way up to a national lockdown if cases are still spiraling after Biden takes offiffice.
Biden has said he wants to “shut down the virus, not the country.” But as he also vows to do “whatever it takes” to control the pandemic, the millions of Americans who turned out to vote in record numbers last week remain deeply split on how best to go about it.
About voters’ hopes
“I’m anticipating the next shutdown,” said Voizene Stewart, 53, of Detroit, who said he voted for Biden after losing both his mother and his 34- year- old son to the coronavirus.
Many other voters, including those who viewed Trump as a champion of the economy, remain far from persuaded.
“We’ve already suffered almost irreparable damage from closing things down,” said Dennis Rohr, a city commissioner in Mandan, North Dakota, who said he voted for Trump. Although case counts remain extremely high, Rohr, 77, feared any type of shutdown would bring a new, even more dangerous slew of problems, including job losses and loneliness.