Biden's First Statement: "Please Wear a Mask" (Summary)

First Press Conference After Presidential Election Victory
COVID-19 Control Is Top Priority... Task Force Also Launched
US Cumulative Infections Surpass 10 Million

President-elect Joe Biden of the United States is holding up a mask during a press conference. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The first statement from Joe Biden, the President-elect of the United States, who has officially begun the presidential transition, was "Let's wear masks." This came after he declared the response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) as the top priority immediately following the confirmation of his election victory, delivering a more specific message. On this day, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surpassed 10 million.

On the 9th (local time), after receiving a briefing from the COVID-19 task force (TF) launched that day at the transition office, President-elect Biden held a press conference and said, "I urge you all to wear masks."

He said, "Please do this for yourselves and your neighbors," adding, "Wearing a mask is not a political statement. It is a good way to start bringing the country together." Biden appealed to even those who did not vote for him to join the fight against the virus. He also emphasized, "The election is over," and "It is time to end political debates over basic health measures like mask-wearing and social distancing."

On this day, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. exceeded 10 million. According to Johns Hopkins University, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was 10,018,278, with a total of 237,742 deaths. It took 294 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported for the cumulative cases to surpass 10 million. It took only ten days to go from 9 million to 10 million cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.