Biden faces tough choice of whether to back virus lockdowns
By: ALEXANDRA JAFFE (AP NEWS)
No, say it ain't so, Joe. Candidate Joe made political promises to be decisive and proactive in protecting the health and safety of Americans. Candidate Joe was going to do great things and control the pandemic. Now President Joe has discovered the politics of doing nothing; safe, uncontroversial, and certainly easier to accomplish.
Candidate Joe Biden is transitioning to President Joe Biden. And Donald Trump doesn't have anything to do with that. President Joe's team is already creating a nuanced shift from what Candidate Joe said.
Candidate Joe Biden wasn't Donald Trump. That's how Joe Biden won the election. Now the politics of the election have suddenly become unworkable. As time goes on, President Joe Biden will begin acting more and more like Donald Trump.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Joe Biden faces a decision unlike any other incoming president: whether to back a short-term national lockdown to finally arrest a raging pandemic.
For now, it's a question the president-elect would prefer to avoid. In the week since he defeated President Donald Trump, Biden has devoted most of his public remarks to encouraging Americans to wear a mask and view the coronavirus as a threat that has no regard for political ideology.
But the debate has been livelier among members of the coronavirus advisory board Biden announced this week. One member, Dr. Michael Osterholm, suggested a four- to six-week lockdown with financial aid for Americans whose livelihoods would be affected. He later walked back his remarks and was rebutted by two other members of the panel who said a widespread lockdown shouldn't be under consideration.
That's a sign of the tough dynamic Biden will face when he is inaugurated in January. He campaigned as a more responsible steward of America's public health than President Donald Trump is and has been blunt about the challenges that lie ahead for the country, warning of a "dark winter" as cases spike.
But talk of lockdowns are especially sensitive. For one, they're nearly impossible for a president to enact on his own, requiring bipartisan support from state and local officials. But more broadly, they're a political flashpoint that could undermine Biden's efforts to unify a deeply divided country.
"It would create a backlash," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who added that such a move could make the situation worse if people don't comply with restrictions. "Lockdowns can have consequences that diminish the value of such an approach."
During his first public appearance since losing the election, Trump noted on Friday that he wouldn't support a lockdown. The president, who has yet to publicly acknowledge Biden's victory, would likely reinforce that message to his loyal supporters once he's left office.
Still, the pandemic's toll continues to escalate.
The coronavirus is blamed for 10.6 million confirmed infections and almost a quarter-million deaths in the U.S., with the closely watched University of Washington model projecting nearly 439,000 dead by March 1. Deaths have climbed to about 1,000 a day on average.
New cases per day are soaring, shattering records. The latest came Friday, when more than 184,000 people tested positive, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Several states are beginning to bring back some of the restrictions first imposed during the spring. But leaders in much of the country are proceeding with caution, aware that Americans are already fatigued by virus-related disruptions.
Indeed, after Osterholm made his comments, a number of Biden's task force members went out to publicly disavow lockdown possibilities. Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former U.S. surgeon general who's serving as one of the co-chairs on Biden's coronavirus advisory board, said the group is looking at a "series of restrictions that we dial up or down" based on the severity of the virus in a given region.
"We're not in a place where we're saying shut the whole country down. We've got to be more targeted," Murthy said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "If we don't do that, what you're going to find is that people will become even more fatigued. Schools won't be open to children and the economy will be hit harder, so we've got to follow science, but we've also got to be more precise."
Speaking on CNBC, Dr. Celine Grounder, an infectious-disease specialist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and another task force member, said that, "as a group, really the consensus is that we need a more nuanced approach."
"We can be much more targeted geographically. We can also be more targeted in terms of what we close," she said.
During the campaign, Biden pledged to make testing free and widely available; to hire thousands of health workers to help implement contact tracing programs; and to instruct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide clear, expert-informed guidelines to businesses, schools and local officials on reopening in regions where they've closed.
To prepare for possible surges in cases, he'd prepare Department of Defense resources to provide medical facility capacity, logistical support and doctors and other medical personnel if necessary. Biden would also use the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment to help alleviate shortages at hospitals.
But Biden himself fueled some of the confusion about his stance on lockdowns during the campaign. He initially told ABC he would "listen to the scientists" if they advised him to shut down the country, and then took a more nuanced position.
"There's going to be no need, in my view, to be able to shut down the whole economy," he said at a town hall in September.
Even if a nationwide lockdown made sense, polling shows that Americans' appetite for a closure waning. Gallup found that only 49% of Americans said they'd be "very likely" to comply with a monthlong stay-at-home order because of an outbreak of the virus. A full third said they'd be very or somewhat unlikely to comply with such an order.
Kathleen Sebelius, who was the health and human services secretary during the Obama administration, said Biden would be wise to keep his options open for now, especially as Trump criticizes lockdowns.
"It's a very dicey topic" politically, she said. "I think wisely, the president-elect doesn't want to get into a debate with the sitting president about some kind of mandate that he has no authority to implement."
Joe Biden ain't Donald Trump. Yet. But the transition is underway.
If we want to get this virus under control, then we as Americans need to make tough decisions and unselfishly inconvenience ourselves a little for a while, rather than whining and complaining about it.
If there is a lock down we are going to do a lot more than whine and complain about it.
Then that makes you part of the problem rather than the solution. Not surprising you don't care either!
I’m part of the solution. I wash my hands. I use social distancing, I wear a face diaper where ever social distancing is not possible. I got the flu shot. I will get the vaccine as soon as I can get it. I will not wear a mask except where social distancing can’t happen and I will not stay locked down.
That is all good and everyone should be doing the same. Unfortunately, that is not the case as Covid cases are on the rise.
Then you are not part of the solution. You contribute to the problem. While other methods of control help (as long as they're adhered to consistently), more drastic measures might be necessary to get Covid under control. It's an annoyance, sure. But it might be necessary and as Americans, we need to take what steps are necessary to protect others including ourselves. To do otherwise only shows a callous disregard for others and the country as a whole.
Hopefully the vaccine proves to be effective, as that should greatly help curtail this pandemic.
Australia, New Zealand, Greenland.
All of which are islands and I'm sure that helps quite a bit.
I am a rock...
Perhaps. But they were hit with Covid too. But unlike the US, they took it seriously and implemented measures which their citizens followed. As a result, they've largely contained Covid spread. Even now too while other countries are experiencing resurgences.
I know they were hit by Covid too. I have friends in Australia. There's also fewer densely populated areas compared to the US. The variables are different though. None of those countries border any others. It's easy to stop flights / travel from other places in general, in and out of an island.
I understand what you are saying yet borders can be closed, like Canada did to us.
Imo it takes the will of the people to help stop the spread. In like Australia, they took it a lot more seriously than we did.
Exactly. In this country, many people treated it as a joke and some even as a hoax. And some continue to see it as such even now.
I realize that. Australia can be seen like the US, but on a smaller scale. But the effect is the same. Covid hit and people became infected and possibly dying. But Australia took the pandemic seriously and took measures to contain the spread. They proved containment is possible. The US being a more populous country can do the same. It just means more people need to be less stupid and more proactive in taking steps to control the spread.
Yep. When we have people that would rather go to a mega church or a political rally or even a large wedding instead of protecting each other, we were doomed from the start.
Not to mention, like you said, the hoaxers out there spreading misinformation.
With a country of about 25 million, last I read they had about 27k infections.
Their current daily infection rate is in the single digits to teens. That's amazing. There's no reason the US cannot achieve similar results.
I agree regarding individuals doing their due diligence, but the reality is... you're never going to get the entire US nation to agree or comply with anything in grand scale. I mean... seriously, it seems the US public can't agree on anything whatsoever. I ignore them all and do what seems to work; masks and sanitizer. Oh... and rarely go anywhere, but that's normal for me. Working from home now is just a bonus.
A/noon Goose..I live in the State of Victoria and as of today 17/11/20 there are no new infections and no deaths..has been that way now for 18 days. Yep the virus got out of control back in August due to people as always not doing their bloody jobs properly hence a massive outbreak and we lost 800 souls..most were elderly..All because the stupid State Premier did not want the Army controlling the quarantine Hotels but private security and they stuffed it up. We are an Island Continent but we have people still flying in and out from our shores...Anyone who comes here has to go into quarantine for 2 weeks...if you live here and are tested you quarantine in your home until your results come back etc..Melbourne had lock down and they have stamped the virus out for now. Lock down has been lifted and the only thing here is mandatory face masks and I think that will go this Sunday..Each country has done things their way and some things work and some don't..But to be honest we look at America and shake our heads in disbelief..What are you mob doing over there?? I know you are very strong on rights, freedoms etc etc as it is deeply ingrained in your history...We are similar, but not to the same extent. But we do what we feel is right for the common good of all and when we saw in other countries entire families being wiped out, the general consensus here was.."We aren't going to let that happen here come hell or high water"..For us we had two things on our side..time and distance and both we used to our advantage after seeing what happened overseas. We are heading into Summer and this will be a truly testing time..Christmas, beaches, BBQ's and school holidays and corona lurking around..We expect the worst, hope for the best and if it rears its head again and it will, we will be ready for it...and plan to save as many Aussies as we can. If that means lock down, masks and anything else we can to do to protect a single life, then so be it..Stay safe where ever you are...
Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malasia, and Singapore.
I don't believe any of them did a total lockdown but they took the virus much more seriously than the US and their COVID infections and deaths are very very low
Maybe that is because some of them suffered through SARS and remember how devastating that was. China was seriously affected by SARS and it was some time before they could return to normal.
So having had experienced a very devastating illness like SARS, they knew they needed to follow the same kind of precautions they did then...masks, social distancing and making sure they obeyed all the preventive health instructions.
Why some of the people here in America think they above getting the COVIS-19 is amazing. But, those who cared for their loved ones and their own life, did indeed follow the life saving directions of the experts. It's the innocent children, and those who are too poor to buy face masks that are put at risk not of their will.
The countries that I listed all had a country plan enacted, supported, and follow-through by the party in power and support by the oppision parties., something that the US didn't have and doesn't have to this day.
You could take the time to review each of the country's ''war'' against the virus and you'll see where the US fell flat on its face.
You think people aren't crossing from the US into Canada and vice versa daily?
1) Truckers still cross every day multiple times carrying goods.
2) We share the widest open border with Canada in the world- you don't need to cross at any official check point. People do it all the time.
3) Illegal immigrants flow throw the US and into Canada all the time. Canada closing their borders to the US hasn't stopped this.
Canadian borders closed. That is like saying US borders are closed.
Yes there are border restrictions in place. Try to cross over and see if they let you.
Sounds to me like you are just making light of the situation and saying, well there are illegal border jumpers so nothing can be done.
If there is no lock down, more Americans will be dying because of it.
Restricting almost all aspects of daily life is considerably more than an inconvenience. The necessity to assume everyone encountered constitutes a threat is considerably more than an inconvenience.
The only real restriction is unnecessary travel or activity outside the home. That's essentially what a lockdown will accomplish, with the intent of limiting grouping and social contact in an effort to contain the spread of Covid. But it seems that people have become so pampered, selfish, and/or soft nowadays, that even the slightest disruption to their lives is "considerably more than an inconvenience." Time for people to buckle up, stop the whining, and do what's necessary.
Lockdowns would probably work if people adhered to them. But it is a more extreme approach. Another issue with it is the length of the lockdown. As we've seen, lifting it too soon can undo any progress at containment of the virus.
It will never happen due to the anti maskers with their bs medical exemptions, those who follow tarot card readers, and those who blindly follow Trump along with his toadies.
I fear you may be correct Paula.
Hey, careful there - I play with Tarot Cards. It's fun.
I found mine in a box this weekend while cleaning the basement. I haven't used them in many, many years.
Are you going to start up again?
Right! And I find that those of us open to Tarot aren't generally conservative.
I wish I weren't as I find no satisfaction in it.
That is the difference. You find it fun, not take it as gospel. I have had cards read for me and I took it as interesting and fun, but no more than that. I even had an old ouji board somewhere in my garage at one time.
Too many projects - never enough time, so probably not. I was, at one time, seriously thinking of designing my own set.
Biden's not a magician. It's too late, it's WAY too late, and it's too contrary to the selfish "sacred individual rights and freedoms" guideline deniers to contain the virus in the USA. May as well keep counting the exponentially increasing infections and deaths until an effective vaccine is available and administered at least to those who are willing and hope that those who aren't stay home and away from the people who have brains in their heads.
At least Biden will try which is more than Trump ever did.
The vaccine is not mass distributed yet and neither has its actual efficacy been determined. A year ago, if the government, and by extention the people, took Covid seriously, then we may not be where we are today. So in under a year, we have 250,000 dead (about 1/5 the world total) and over 11 million infected. It's not just what more we want, there is a lot more we could have done!
I took you off of ignore for that bs comment? Won't happen again.