President-elect Joe Biden is set to announce a coronavirus task-force just days after he was declared the winner of the general election, as he prepares to take over the White House amid a pandemic that has killed more than 237,000 Americans.
Biden said during his election victory speech in Delaware on Saturday night “the battle to control the virus” will form a key part of his presidency while hoping he can “provide some comfort and solace to the Americans who’ve lost a loved one” as a result of COVID-19.
“On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisors to help pave the Biden-Harris covered plan and convert it into an action blueprint that will start on January 20th, 2021,” Biden said.
“That plan will rebuild on bedrock science. It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern. I will spare no effort, none, or any commitment to turn around this pandemic.”
The immediateness of Biden’s announcement makes clear that he intends on making battling COVID-19 one of his pledges having frequently denounced Trump for his failings in handling the pandemic, including refusing to wear a mask and playing down its deadly threat.
While Biden did not go into specifics, Axios first reported that the 12-person task force will be led by three co-chairs: former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, David Kessler and Yale University’s Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
The names of the co-chairs we later confirmed by other news outlets, with the additional members reported to be announced on Monday.
The co-chairs are already longtime advisers of Biden and have attend COVID-19 briefing with the President-elect as recently as last month.
According to The New York Times, Murthy, who originally hails from Karnataka having been born in U.K., is set to be the face of the administration’s fight against the pandemic and other public health issues.
Murthy has been known to Biden for years having been appointed as Surgeon General by then president Barack Obama in 2014, when Biden by Vice President.
At 37, he was the youngest person told hold office. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration.
Murthy, along with Kessler, have both have briefed Biden on the coronavirus for months.
The Times previously quoted Kessler as saying that “Murthy and I would brief Biden every day or four times a week” about the pandemic.
The final co-chair in the task force is Dr. Nunez-Smith, who appeared at one of Biden’s at coronavirus briefing at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware in October 28 along with Murthy and Kessler.
Nunez-Smith is an associate professor of internal medicine, public health and management and founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center,
According to her Yale profile, Nunez-Smith’s research focuses on promoting health and healthcare equity for “structurally marginalized populations.”
Originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Nunez-Smith attended Jefferson Medical College, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.
She also earned a bachelor’s degree in Biological Anthropology and psychology at Swarthmore College.
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