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Joe Biden (November 7th in Delaware): "Will put our plan to get the virus under control in effect on our first day"
Photo: POOL / REUTERS
It is an inglorious high.
According to counts by the Reuters news agency, the number of corona infections in the USA is now more than ten million.
More than 237,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 since then.
It is the greatest task that the newly elected US President Joe Biden will face after taking office.
And the democrat is preparing.
On Monday he wants to present a council of experts to contain the pandemic.
His goal is to launch an action plan to overcome the corona crisis on the day of his inauguration on January 20.
"I want everyone to know: we will put our plan to get the virus under control on our first day," said Biden on Saturday evening (local time) in his victory speech in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
The expert council should get a dual leadership, said Biden's spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield on Sunday on NBC News.
It should therefore be led by Vivek Murthy and David Kessler.
Murthy was the U.S. government's chief health officer from 2014 to 2017, and Kessler previously headed the FDA's Food and Drug Administration.
They have been advising on the pandemic since March, Bedingfield said.
Biden wants to turn back numerous Trump decisions
The pandemic and its economic consequences are likely to be Biden's greatest challenge at the beginning of his tenure.
He has promised voters to listen to science recommendations to help contain the pandemic.
Without defeating the virus, "we cannot repair the economy, restore momentum, or enjoy the best moments in life," Biden said on Saturday.
All generations of a family should be able to meet again, birthday parties and weddings should be possible again, said Biden.
He will "spare no effort or commitment" for this.
The pandemic remains completely out of control in the United States, a country of around 330 million people.
The daily number of cases is approaching the 130,000 mark.
Biden accuses Trump of total failure in connection with the virus and blames him for the deaths of thousands of Americans.
US media reported that Biden's team is already planning a series of rulings on other policy areas that the president intends to sign immediately after he is sworn in.
Among other things, he is said to overturn some of Trump's strict immigration rules and want to bring about the return to the international climate protection agreement in Paris, as reported by the "New York Times".
Trump does not want to admit the defeat
The 74-year-old Biden had been declared the winner of Tuesday's election by the US media after a slow counting of the votes on Saturday.
The incumbent President Donald Trump will continue to rule until January 20th.
The Republican Trump, however, opposes being voted out of office after only one term and accuses the Democrats of electoral fraud - without providing any solid evidence.
With the help of his lawyers, Trump hopes to avert his defeat.
However, the chances of success are extremely low.
(You can find all developments here in the live ticker.)
Despite the dispute over the election result, many heads of state and government have already congratulated Biden, including one of Trump's closest allies to date, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The only surviving Republican ex-president, George W. Bush, also congratulated Biden.
Many states still count the votes
Angela Merkel had already congratulated Biden on the weekend, but did not comment on the behavior of the incumbent president.
She wants to make a statement on the outcome of the US election at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin on Monday (10.45 a.m.).
In the USA it is common for the presidential election to be decided on the basis of forecasts from large media houses - usually on election night.
The official results sometimes come much later.
Because of the pandemic, millions of Americans voted by letter this year, which is why the counting of the votes took longer.
The US president is only elected indirectly by the people.
The votes of the voters decide on the composition of the electoral college, which then elects the president in December.
The vote count continued in several states.
Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and Alaska did not yet have an official winner.
The first three states are likely to go relatively safely to Biden, the latter to Trump.
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jok / dpa