Presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden said Americans need to adopt a war-footing mentality when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democrat told reporters that stringent measures should be accepted this Thanksgiving and into the foreseeable future so “we’re able to be here next Thanksgiving, next Christmas.”
“It is an international crisis,” he said Monday. “It’s an international health crisis and the idea we’re at war with the virus. And it is we’re at war. For real.”
Mr. Biden said that he wears “the more potent mask” to protect himself from the contagion, in addition to a requirement that family members be tested prior to attending Thanksgiving dinner.
“[Health experts] suggest five people, maximum ten people, socially distanced wearing masks,” he said. “And people who have quarantined. So, Jill and I spent this morning, like many of you, trying to figure out ’what are we going to do for Thanksgiving? How we gonna do it?’ And we’ve narrowed down which family members and that they were tested, recently tested within 24 hours. And so, I would strongly urge for the sake, not just your sake, for the sake of your children — your mother, your father, your sisters, your brothers — whoever you get together with Thanksgiving, think about this.”
Mr. Biden’s request for a coronavirus war-footing mentality comes shortly after the total number of U.S. cases exceeded 10 million cases.
Nearly 250,000 American deaths have been attributed to the virus out of a population of roughly 330 million people.
Biden says the ONLY way you should be allowed to have Thanksgiving is if everyone wears masks, stays socially distanced, tests negative on the day before, and keeps it to no more than five or ten.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 16, 2020
He says the 2021 holidays will be this way if we DON’T listen to him. pic.twitter.com/LR9roCneqQ
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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