USA Coronavirus deaths: What could a new Biden lockdown look like?
COVID-19 is still raging across the United States. Contrary to some people’s beliefs that it would “just go away”. As we enter the colder months people are watching in horror as the number of daily COVID-19 cases surpass the highest numbers we’ve previously recorded.
We’re living in a pandemic and it’s scary. We all want it to be over, but it just isn’t. However, it seems highly likely that Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States in January, which means we’ll likely see an entirely different approach to the pandemic.
Many are wondering what those changes could look like. Here’s what the current coronavirus situation is looking like and what Joe Biden is promising to do in order to fix the situation.
Current COVID-19 situation
The current coronavirus situation in the USA is bleak. As of writing this article, according to the WHO, there have been a total of 51.8 million coronavirus cases worldwide – 10.1 million have been reported in the USA. That’s approximately a fifth of the cases in the world or 20%. However, the United States only holds about 4.25% of the world’s population.
There have been approximately 238,573 deaths in the USA out of the world’s 1.29 million – which is 18% of the world’s coronavirus deaths.
Currently the United States is seeing confirmation of more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day.
Biden’s plan vs Trump’s plan
Donald Trump’s plan to deal with COVID-19 has essentially been to wait it out. He has openly ridiculed state representatives for encouraging people to stay home and has even made fun of people wearing masks – see the first presidential debate of 2020 as proof.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s transition website layout what they call a seven point plan to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Here’s what you need to know about how the USA will do about COVID-19 under a Joe Biden presidency.
Testing
The Biden administration wants to ensure that everyone has access to “regular, reliable, and free testing”. This means we’ll no longer have to lament how basketball teams seem to magically have more access to COVID-19 testing than people with actual symptoms.
Their goal is to double the number of drive-through testing sites, invest in at-home kits, and multiple other strategies.
Resources
Secondly the Biden administration would like to ensure everywhere has access to the PPE they need. This means using the Defense Production Act to increase the creation of masks, face shields, and other necessary equipment that can help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The admin also wants to provide “clear, consistent, evidence-based guidance” for communities so that “schools, small businesses, and families” know what the best practices to stay safe are. They plan to direct the CDC to provide guidance relating to the level of risk & degree of viral spread in communities, as well as indicate how safe it is for businesses, schools, and other public spaces to be open.
They also want to create financial assistance including a renewable fund for state & local governments to prevent budget shortfalls, asking Congress to pass an emergency package for schools to have the additional resources they need, and provide a restart package to help small businesses afford the extra costs of running in a pandemic.
Protections and vaccines
The Biden administration also wants to invest $25 billion into vaccine manufacturing and a distribution plan to ensure “effective, equitable distribution”. They want to make sure that every single American can get the vaccine free of cost.
They also want to ensure the safety of older Americans and other high-risk individuals. This means the creation of a “COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force” and a “Nationwide Pandemic Dashboard” to ensure that nobody is overlooked and that everyone has the resources to ensure their own safety. The dashboard will allow citizens to check in real-time what the local transmission rates are based on zip code.
Mask mandate
Under a Biden presidency, masks will be made mandatory. The Biden admin will ask that everyone wear a mask when “around people outside their household”, that governors will make masks mandatory in their states, and that local authorities also support these mandates.
Their transition site says that everyone wearing masks could prevent death for tens of thousands of citizens.
After COVID-19
After the pandemic has been declared over (whenever that will be), the transition site says they would also like to “rebuild and expand defenses to predict, prevent, and mitigate pandemic threats, including those coming from China.”
This means restoring the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, restoring the country’s relationship with the World Health Organization, re-launching the U.S. Agency for International Development’s pathogen-tracking program, and expanding the number of deployed CDC disease detectives.
Conclusion
While this is a fairly cursory look at what the Biden-Harris administration would like to do to tackle the coronavirus, they make it clear that their plans are based on science, evidence, and transparency.
