Amid a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths and grim warnings from the public health officials about a possible fourth wave of the deadly virus, U.S. President Joe Biden urges the states and cities to instantly pause the reopening and bring back mask mandates and other restrictions.
During an event, Biden announces that ninety percent of American adults will be eligible for coronavirus vaccine by 19th April; at the same time, he echoed Rochelle Walensky, Centers for Disease Director, ’s fears of impending doom if states reopen too quickly.
Biden says that he is echoing his call for local and state leaders to maintain and restore the mask mandate, specifically urging those states that withdraw their mask mandates to reimpose them. Additionally, the president adds that this is not politics.
Reporters asked Biden if he believes states should temporarily pause their reopening economies and businesses as COVID-19 cases once again spike – which Dr. Anthony Fauci pinned in part on the relaxing of virus-related restrictions – the President replied, “yes.”
Despite Biden’s insistence that face mask mandates are not political, the president’s position put him in dispute with Republican Governors such as Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose desertion of mask mandates he labeled “neanderthal thinking” earlier in March.
The health officials issued a stark warning, new cases are rising along with the surge in hospitalizations, and deaths are growing from the disease that already took the lives of approximately 550,000 people in the United States. Some parts of the country dropped mask mandates and other coronavirus restrictions altogether.
Biden Urges States and Cities to Pause Reopening Source: Web
The U.S. faces a 10% increase in cases compared with the last 7-day period
America surpassed thirty million total COVID-19 cases on Sunday, and the 7-day average of new cases was around sixty-thousand per day. It represents a ten percent increase compared with the prior 7-day period. Joe Biden gathered extensive approval for his COVID-19 response and handling so far. An Ipsos poll/ABC News released Sunday that indicates that seventy-two percent of Americans approve of his handling of the pandemic, while seventy-five percent approve of his vaccine distribution handling.
According to the New York Times, sixteen U.S. states, all with Republican governors, have no mask restrictions in place, compared to thirty-one who still have mask mandates and three with partial requirements. All but seven states allowed businesses to mostly reopen, while no states have active orders of stay-at-home.
Biden aimed to increase the number of Pharmacies to Receive Vaccination Jabs
The Biden administration set a goal of getting two hundred million vaccine shots in the arms of people in the first hundred days in office, so vaccinations are increasing across the country. Furthermore, the White House announced that the administration would increase the pharmacy numbers giving vaccines to almost forty-thousand from seven thousand countrywide and establish further mass vaccination sites by 19th April.
In the next three weeks, we will more than double the number of pharmacies where you can get vaccinated and increase the number of federally-run mass vaccination sites.
We’re going to make sure that 90% of Americans live within 5 miles of a vaccination site by April 19.
Michael Newshel, an analyst of Evercore ISI, said in a research note that expansions could lead to additional two million vaccine doses administered daily as supplies growing up. The officials of the administration encouraged continued mask-wearing & keeping social distance and discouraged nonessential travel to stop the spread of coronavirus and its deadly variants.
The White House announced that it expected from the private sector of the country that it will lead on the verification of coronavirus vaccinations or so-called vaccine passports and wouldn’t issue a federal directive requiring everyone to receive a single vaccination credential.
