After the Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, and others also projected Biden’s win on Saturday: From his home in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden tweeted: “America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me.”
When Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021, he will instantly inherit surging coronavirus cases and increased deaths in the country, and with no end in sight. However, Biden does have a plan to not only contain the virus, but he plans on setting a new tone for the nation’s pandemic response.
No more will people see a patchwork of so-called responses that put the burden on individual state governors to procure PPEs and testing materials. People will instead, see a top-down national framework for testing, contact tracing, and targeted business closures.
#Biden wins #WhiteHouse, ending #TrumpPresidency November 7, 2020
Biden has also promised to initiate a national mask mandate, calling it a “patriotic duty.” Perhaps even more important, Biden plans to restore the credibility of science, in general, and the nation’s public health services, in particular. However, Biden’s most daunting task will be to earn the country’s trust in government again, by putting a stop to the misinformation and false promises made by the previous administration.
Several Biden health advisers spoke with STATNews.com. “There are some things he’s going to do right off the bat,” said Nicole Lurie, a Biden campaign adviser who served as the Obama administration’s top pandemic-preparedness official.
“He will reach out to Tony Fauci. He will declare his intention to be an active participant in the WHO and in the world. And I believe that in very short order, he’ll be in touch with governors and mayors around the country, listening to what it is that they’ll need to pivot this response.”
“You’ll immediately see a change of tone, a change in communication,” said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy and bioethics expert advising Biden, reports Politico. “People can roll their eyes at that, but this is the stuff of real leadership: telling the truth, modeling the right behaviors like wearing a mask, only having small crowds, putting the scientists out there.”
One of Biden’s first actions, his campaign says, will be to press Congress to get a sweeping stimulus bill to his desk by late January that guarantees paid sick leave to all workers, covers the cost of Covid-19 testing and treatment for the uninsured and under-insured and gives states and public health workers the resources they need to slow the spread of the virus and distribute a vaccine if and when one is approved.
So, you see, there is already something the Congress should be working on in a bipartisan manner. Biden has his work cut out for him on January 20. It won’t be easy trying to get a country back together again, one that has been divided by a president who has encouraged violence, hate, and political separatism. Biden says he will be a president for all the people, and that is a refreshing thing to hear.
