Joe Biden is seemingly reversing course after the election and no longer appears to support shutting down the nation. Instead, he says he’s just going to “shut down the virus”.
How, exactly, he proposes to shut down the virus is unknown. Maybe he will use the magic wand Obama used to stop the “rise of the oceans” and “heal the planet.”
President-elect Joe Biden seemed to grow irritated with reporters for pressing him on his position regarding lockdowns as COVID-19 cases tick up around the country.
“I’m not going to shut down the economy. Period. I’m going to shut down the virus,” he said Thursday after remarks in Wilmington, Delaware. “No national shutdown. No national shutdown.”
The two-term vice president added each community was different and that a uniform decision would be “counterproductive.”
More than 250,000 people in the United States have died from the novel coronavirus.
As infection rates go up, New York City, for instance, closed its public schools, Michigan introduced a statewide, three-week “pause” on risky activities, and Kansas implemented a blanket mask mandate.
The measures coincide with public health officials voicing concerns that not enough care is being taken with face coverings and physical distancing before Thanksgiving and winter.
Biden has been pushed on the issue after telling ABC News in August he would listen to scientists, and if they advised a lockdown, he would consider their recommendation.
“I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives. Because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus,” he told the outlet.
Dr. Michael Osterholm, a member of Biden’s COVID-19 task force, reignited the issue earlier in November by suggesting to Yahoo Finance that a four- to six-week shutdown could slow the spread before the weather cooled. Osterholm and fellow task force members later walked backed his comments.
