The Consequences of the 2020 Election on COVID-19

President-elect Joe Biden has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump on his incompetencies handling the novel Covid-19 pandemic. With his recent win in Pennsylvania, carrying him across the finish line many are speculating whether or not he will be able to combat the misinformation that was spread by the Trump administration for months.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials have called upon countries to scale up efforts to combat the coronavirus and build a contract-tracing infrastructure to help stop the spread. Health organizations and universities such as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and Johns Hopkins University, proposed a plan that would increase national testing and would require a workforce of 100,000 people and cost around $3.6 billion.

Bidens Plan:

Biden announced that he would have a Covid-19 advisory board of 12 members that include prominent experts in infectious diseases and global health experts. Joe Biden campaign advisors explained that with the current trajectory of the virus it is important for the Joe Biden administration to lay the groundwork for equitable vaccine distribution. He pledges, “disciplines, trustworthy leadership grounded in science.”, which would include a stimulus package, and free robust testing and treatment.

The Biden Covid response plan calls for restoring trust, credibility, and common purpose and rallying the world to confront this crisis. The ability for Biden to rally the world to stop the spread of the virus is likely with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling Joe Biden to congratulate him, and reportedly discussed climate change and covid as top joint priority.

At the same time, Biden will have to push back against the fallout caused by the Trump administration and the false information that has been spread for months leading up to the election. Biden will not only have the pandemic to worry about but a broken and heavily divided nation filled with rifts in the democratic party and far right extremist groups. The economy will also be a point of contention for the Biden administration.

Economy:

Joe Biden will be inheriting a hurt economy and a global pandemic. The pandemic has caused over 20 million Americans to lose their jobs as unemployment hitting the highest rate on record, 14.7%. Although unemployment has been getting better with recent numbers showing it at 6.9% the economic impact on the poor, people of color, and the young will be dire in the coming years. It will not be a surprise if the unemployment rate increases in the first months of the Biden presidency, if Biden decides on closing the country down and demanding only essential businesses be open; though this would benefit the economy in the long run.

It is expected that the Senate come January be controlled by the GOP and will try to block any spending bills or stimulus packages congress tries to pass. The Republicans will claim to 'not want to run up the national deficit' and will suddenly become budget hawks. However, its important to remember that the Trump tax cuts rose the national deficit instead of decreasing it. The blocking of Biden administration legislation will be purely out of spite of the democratic party, and in return the ramifications will destroy millions of American lives.

On January 20th, 2021 Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States and his actions will affect millions of people in the United States. His rhetoric on the campaign trail regarding the pandemic gives hope to many that he will be able to set a national mandate for citizens to wear masks and hopefully stop the spread.

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