Biden releases plan to ‘safely’ reopen country amid COVID-19
The plan presented by the Democratic presidential candidate includes additional testing for all Americans.
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden says more of the country needs to be tested for the novel coronavirus and Americans need to continue social distancing until new cases of the potentially deadly disease are down significantly.
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Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden says more of the country needs to be tested for the novel coronavirus and Americans need to continue social distancing until new cases of the potentially deadly disease are down significantly.
In a Sunday op-ed in the New York Times titled, “My Plan to Safety Reopen America,” Biden calls for “widespread, easily available and prompt testing” which not only includes the test to confirm one has COVID-19 but a second form of testing, rapid serology tests, to determine who has “already been infected with the coronavirus and has antibodies.”
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“This isn’t rocket science; it’s about investment and execution. We are now several months into this crisis, and still, this administration has not squarely faced up to the ‘original sin’ in its failed response — the failure to test,” Biden wrote in the op/ed.
The former vice president released his strategy as some debate President Donald Trump’s May 1 target to end social distancing measures for some people and have them return back to work. But Biden writes that before America can “reopen more businesses and put more people back to work” some aggressive measures need to be implemented first.
For example, Biden argues that social distancing needs to continue until Trump uses “his full powers under the Defense Production Act to fight the disease with every tool at our disposal.”
SPARTANBURG, SC – FEBRUARY 28: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with supporters during a campaign event at Wofford University February 28, 2020 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. South Carolinians will vote in the Democratic presidential primary tomorrow. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
“He needs to get the federal response organized and stop making excuses. For more Americans to go back to their jobs, the president needs to do better at his job,” Biden writes in The Times op/ed.
He also said a full plan needs to be rolled out to ensure hospitals are ready to address “flare-ups of the disease” that will likely occur after social distancing ends.
“Things will not go back to ‘normal’ right away,” Biden writes. “As public health experts have said, we should expect activity to return gradually, with sites like offices and stores reopening before arenas and theaters.”
“Public health officials will need to conduct effective disease surveillance. Hospitals need to have the staff and equipment necessary to handle any local outbreaks, and we need an improved federal system to get help to these places as needed,” Biden continues.
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Biden said we need to think of the economic impact of COVID-19 and the health responses as one and the same. Both require an effective strategy as we await the development of a vaccine, he adds.
This strategy has so far been missing from the nation’s president, Biden adds.
“As we prepare to reopen America, we have to remember what this crisis has taught us: The administration’s failure to plan, to prepare, to honestly assess and communicate the threat to the nation led to catastrophic results. We cannot repeat those mistakes,” Biden wrote.
