With COVID 19 Raging Across the Country, President-Elect Biden Announces his Coronavirus Task Force

Photo from WXOW

With COVID 19 raging across the United States with new cases averaging over 100,000 a day over the last week, President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris announced the names of the members of their Coronavirus Task Force.

The members, according to reporting from the Washington Post, include:

• "Former Obama Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy.
• Former Clinton and Bush II FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Commissioner David Kessler.
• Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate dean for health equity research at the Yale School of Medicine.
• Rick Bright, the former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, who lodged a whistleblower complaint on how the Trump Administration mishandled COVID 19.
• Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School who is a prolific author.
• Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
• Eric Goosby, global AIDS coordinator under President Barack Obama and professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.
• Celine R. Gounder, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
• Julie Morita, Executive Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy focused on health issues.
•  Loyce Pace, President, and Executive director of the Global Health Council."

Perhaps, if Donald Trump fires Dr. Anthony Fauci or other credible members of the White House COVID 19 Task Force (he started to even scores today with the firing of Defense Secretary Mike Esper,) Biden and Harris will invite them to join their team.

After the announcement of the COVID 19 Taskforce, the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect appeared (please watch the video below) to reaffirm the announcement of the task force with Mr. Biden saying that the emphasis will be to promote "science" and maintain the attitude of "compassion and empathy (towards the people) at its core."

The President-Elect also discussed the strategies this task force would work on such as:

• Improvements in the production and distribution of therapeutics. 
• Making rapid testing more widely available. 
• Expanding the numbers of contact tracers.
• Getting vaccines to the most at-risk population first. Also making sure this vaccine is distributed equitably and for free. 
• Reopening guidance for facilities like childcare centers.
• Ramping up production of PPE. 
• Making sure health care workers have what they need to combat the virus. 
• Getting states, cities, and tribal nations the resources they need. 
• Protecting vulnerable populations and communities where the virus is having more of an impact. 

Mr. Biden said he "would spare no effort to turn this pandemic around once we're sworn in on January 20," "follow the science," and "work with Governors and other local leaders."

He also called on the people to come together for the betterment of all in the country, stating:

"It's time to end the politicization of basic responsible public health steps like mask-wearing and social distancing. We have to come together to hear the soul of this country so that we can effectively address this crisis as one country where hard-working Americans have each other's backs and we are united in our shared goal, defeating this virus."

Biden continued to emphasize until a vaccine is readily available, the importance of wearing a mask in getting life back to normal, stating:

"For the foreseeable future, a mask is the most potent weapon against the virus...We can save tens of thousands of lives by just wearing a mask over the next few months. Not Democrat or Republican lives, American lives...So please I implore you. Wear a mask. Do it for yourself. Do it for your neighbor. A mask is not a political statement but it is a good way to start putting the country together... let's wear a mask. Let's get to work..."

A President who values science, unity, and the well being of all the people of the nation.

How refreshing.

We have not seen that in the last four years.

Glad that four-year nightmare is about to end and a new dawn in our country will replace it at noon on January 20, 2021.