Joe Biden has advanced that he plans to issue a standing order that Americans must wear face masks for the first 100 days of his term to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The president-elect, who has frequently emphasised mask-wearing as a “patriotic duty”, will also order masks to be worn in all US government buildings and interstate transportation, including buses, planes and trains.
In an interview Mr Biden said, “On 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, just 100 days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction in the virus.”
Following the Thanksgiving holiday last week, new cases and deaths have spiked across the US. There are now more than 100,000 hospitalizations due to the virus, more than at any other point in the ongoing pandemic. The country reported a record daily high of more than 210,000 new cases on 3rd December, as well as 2,907 deaths.
The move marks a notable shift from President Donald Trump, whose own scepticism of mask-wearing has contributed to a politicisation of the issue.
Mr Biden also revealed he has asked Dr Anthony Fauci to stay on in his administration, “in the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents”, as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.
“I asked him to stay on in 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 team,” Biden said.
Regarding a coronavirus vaccine, the president-elect said he would be “happy” to get inoculated in public to ease any concerns about its efficacy and safety.
Three former presidents – Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton – have said they would also get vaccinated publicly to show that it is safe.
“If Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting COVID, absolutely I’m going to take it,” Obama said. “I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don’t trust is getting COVID.”
“People have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work,” Mr Biden added. “It matters what a president and the vice president do”.
Outgoing President Donald Trump has repeatedly said a vaccine would soon be available to the public.
Vaccine candidates that have been developed by the Pfzier-BioNTech and Moderna are expected to be approved later in December.
A top science official has said that the US hopes to immunize 100 million people, nearly one-third of the total population, by the end of February.
