Joe Biden WILL make Americans wear masks for first 100 days in office as he lays out plans to halt Covid-19 surge
President-elect Joe Biden will ask Americans to wear face masks for his first 100 days in office in an attempt to bring down infection rates, as the coronavirus crisis continues to rage out of control in the US. He believes that there would be a “significant reduction’ in Covid-19 cases if every American wore a face covering. This indicates an approach that is very different from President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic, who has fought many of the coronavirus recommendations laid out by public health experts, including mask-wearing.
The first day I’m inaugurated, I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask, not forever. 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction...with vaccinations and masking, to drive down the numbers considerably,” Biden told CNN. The inauguration day is January 20.
Biden said he would order masks to be worn in all US government buildings. “It is important that we in fact, the president and the vice president, we set the pattern by wearing masks but beyond that, where the federal government has authority, I’m gonna issue a standing order that in federal buildings you have to be masked. Transportation, interstate transportation, you must be masked, (on) airplanes and busses, etc,” he added.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris had earlier released a plan focusing on how to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control in the US. It shows that the Biden-Harris administration wants a nationwide mask mandate and will call on state governors and local authorities to mandate mask-wearing.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recently suggested that wearing masks provide a two-way benefit: It protects others from the spread of Covid-19, and it offers protection to the wearer as well. CDC strongly recommends appropriate masks be worn by all passengers and by all personnel operating the conveyance while on public transportation conveyances (airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, ride-shares) and at transportation hubs and other locations where people board such conveyances (airports, bus or ferry terminals, train stations, seaports).
The president-elect said he would be willing to join with the three previous US presidents -- Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama -- who have pledged to get Covid-19 vaccine in public, once approved, to boost faith among the American public and show them that it is safe.
“When Dr (Anthony) Fauci says we have a vaccine and it’s safe, that’s the moment in which I will stand before the public…Part of what’s happened is that people have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work. Already the numbers are really staggeringly low, and it matters what the president and vice president do,” Biden noted. He added, “I think that my three predecessors have set the model as to what should be done, saying, once it’s declared to be safe... then obviously we take it and it’s important to communicate to the American people.”
During the interview, Biden informed that he has asked Fauci, who is part of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, to stay on in his current role and to also serve as his chief medical adviser. “I asked him to stay on the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the Covid-19 team,” he explained.
Fauci has formally met with Biden’s transition team. “What contribution I will make in the new administration depends on the new administration. But I cannot imagine I’m not going to be involved in the Covid-19 response. I mean that would, I think, be unheard of if that’s the case. But we’ll see,” Fauci had earlier told MSNBC.