Coronavirus: Joe Biden asks Anthony Fauci to join his Covid team

Joe Biden has asked the government’s top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci to remain in his post.

Anthony Fauci. Picture: AFP

US President-elect Joe Biden on Friday (Australian time) said he had asked the government’s top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci to remain in his post and join his COVID-19 team after he takes office in January.

“I asked him to stay on in the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents,” Mr Biden told CNN, referring to the expert who outgoing President Donald Trump had suggested he would fire after the election.

“And I asked him to be chief medical adviser for me as well and to be part of the Covid team.”

Mr Biden also said that on his first day in office he would ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days to help reduce transmission of the virus that is again surging in a country with the world’s highest number of deaths and infections.

“I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask — not forever,” Mr Biden said in excerpts of the interview, broadcast ahead of the full interview on Saturday.

Mr Biden’s approach to the virus stands in sharp contrast to that of Mr Trump, who has downplayed its seriousness, mocked mask-wearing and called for reopenings despite having been hospitalised with COVID-19 himself.

The president-elect said he planned to use government authority where possible to issue a “standing order” for masking in federal buildings as well as for interstate transportation, including on airplanes and buses.

To build trust in vaccines after they are approved, Mr Biden said he was willing to be vaccinated in public. And former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have volunteered to get their COVID-19 vaccines on camera to promote public confidence in the vaccine’s safety once the US Food and Drug Administration authorises one.

The US suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic on Thursday when 3157 Americans died of the coronavirus on Thursday (AEDT) The US has surpassed 14 million COVID-19 infections, with more than 275,000 deaths.

In what appeared to be a tacit acknowledgement of Mr Trump’s loss in the November 3 election, White House communication director Alyssa Farah announced her resignation on Friday.

Alyssa Farah. Picture: AFP

“After three and a half incredible years, I will be leaving the White House to pursue new opportunities,” wrote Ms Farah, who had also served as spokeswoman for Vice-President Mike Pence and at the Pentagon before her current position.

“I am deeply proud of the incredible things we were able to accomplish to make our country stronger, safer and more secure,” she said, without mentioning Mr Trump, whose term ends on January 20. Ms Farah has mostly laid low since the election, which Mr Trump has refused to concede, touting conspiracy theories and unfounded claims of fraud to explain his loss.

Ms Farah’s attitude stands in contrast with that of White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany, who has amplified her boss’s baseless claims of fraud and a rigged election.

Mr Biden’s election margin over Mr Trump widened to more than seven million votes.

A month after the election, new local tallies from New York drove the president-elect’s total to 81,264,673 votes, compared to Trump’s 74,210,838, with a total 158.4 million votes counted so far, according to data compiled by the Cook Political Report.

That gave Mr Biden a solid 4.4 percentage point margin over the Republican President.

Mr Biden has captured 306 electoral votes for his victories in individual states, well past the 270 needed to win the presidency.

Mr Biden will be confirmed as winner by the Electoral College on December 14.

AFP