UPDATED: 2:50 p.m.
WILMINGTON, Del. (KYW Newsradio) — The coronavirus pandemic is at the top of the agenda for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and it was the topic of Biden's first address since claiming victory, delivered at the Queen Theater in Wilmington Monday.
Biden announced his COVID-19 transition advisory board, which he said would provide the blueprint for putting his plan to combat the virus into action.
"This group will advise on detailed plans built on a bedrock of science and keep compassion, empathy and care for every American at its core," he said.
The president-elect had announced the broad outline of a plan as a candidate — including more testing, a vaccine distribution system and a nationwide mask mandate, which he tied in to his call for unity.
"It's time to end the politicization of basic, responsible public health steps like mask wearing and social distancing. We have to come together to heal the soul of this country so that we can effectively deal with this crisis," Biden said.
One of the board members, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, is a key figure at The University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel poses for a portrait after speaking with USA TODAY Washington bureau chief Susan Page at the Aspen Ideas Festival.Jasper Colt/USA TODAY
Emanuel is one of the 13 public health experts on the task force. He's an oncologist, vice provost for global initiatives and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Penn. He was an advisor in the Obama administration, and he's also the brother of former Obama Chief of Staff and Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel.
The advisory board is being led by co-chairs Dr. Vivek Murthy, former Obama administration surgeon general; Dr. David Kessler, FDA commissioner during the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton years; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate professor of internal medicine, public health and management at Yale University.
The transition comes as COVID-19 cases are surging around the country and across the world.
There have been five straight days of over 100,000 new confirmed cases in the United States. The U.S. is nearing its 10 millionth case as the world just hit 50 million over the weekend. The U.S. death toll, according to Johns Hopkins University, is around 237,000.
In Philadelphia, officials reported nearly 1,800 new cases of the virus since Friday, and recommended anyone who'd been at last week's protests and celebrations to quarantine for two weeks.
