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WILMINGTON, Delaware: President-elect Joe Biden on Monday (Nov. 16) will focus on plans to revive a pandemic-hit U.S. economy as he prepares for his new administration, while President Donald Trump vowed to move forward with challenges. far-reaching judicial decisions for election results.
With the number of coronavirus cases rising across the country, Biden will host a briefing and address in his home state of Delaware on rebuilding an economy that has suffered millions of job losses as the pandemic has killed more than 245,000 Americans and many businesses closed. .
Biden’s scientific advisers will meet this week with drug companies developing vaccines to combat COVID-19, said a senior aide to the president-elect, in preparation for the logistical challenges of widespread vaccination.
READ: What mandate? Biden’s agenda faces a divided Congress
Trump sent mixed messages on Sunday, apparently briefly acknowledging defeat in a morning tweet, only to backtrack, saying he concedes “nothing” and repeating his baseless allegations of voter fraud.
He later promised on Twitter to present “important cases proving the unconstitutionality of the 2020 elections,” even though he has so far not moved forward with his legal challenges in several states.
READ: Trump backs down by acknowledging that Biden won the election, he concedes ‘nothing’
FILE PHOTO: US President Trump provides an update on the Operation Warp Speed coronavirus treatment program in a televised address from the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington.
Legal experts have said that Trump’s litigation has little chance of altering the election outcome, and election officials from both parties have said there is no evidence of major wrongdoing.
In another blow to Trump’s legal strategy, his campaign on Sunday dropped much of a lawsuit it filed to prevent Pennsylvania from certifying its results, narrowing the case down to a problem affecting a small number of votes. Biden won the state by more than 60,000 votes.
More than a week after Biden was declared the winner by major news organizations based on state-by-state vote counts, the General Services Administration has yet to recognize him as president-elect, preventing his team from gaining access to the space. of offices and government financing. it is typically provided to an incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition.
Biden’s top aides warned that Trump’s refusal to initiate a transition could jeopardize the battle against the virus and inhibit planning for vaccine distribution.
The number of coronavirus cases in the US surpassed 11 million on Sunday, a million new cases more than a week ago and the fastest rise since the pandemic began. The number of COVID-19 patients in US hospitals has also reached an all-time high.
‘THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS’
Michigan and Washington state on Sunday imposed radical new restrictions on gatherings, including the interruption of indoor restaurant service, to curb the spread of the virus.
“We are in a very dangerous period,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, a member of Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told NBC’s Meet The Press. .
Unless action is taken now, “we will see these numbers grow substantially,” Osterholm warned. “Our future is in our hands.”
Biden has promised to make the health crisis a top priority as president. Ron Klain, who will be the White House chief of staff when Biden takes office on January 20, said Biden’s scientific advisers would meet with Pfizer and other drug companies this week.
Pfizer said last week that its vaccine candidate proved more than 90 percent effective in initial trials, raising hope that widespread vaccination in the coming months could help control the pandemic. Other companies are also in advanced stages of developing promising vaccines.
Biden beat Trump in the November 3 election by the same margin of 306-232 in the state-by-state Electoral College that Trump proclaimed a “landslide” when he won in 2016. The former Democratic vice president also won the national popular vote. by at least 5.5 million votes, or 3.6 percentage points, and the ballots are still counted.
A laborious manual recount is underway in Georgia, where Biden has been projected as the winner and has a lead of more than 14,000 votes. Patrick Moore, a legal adviser for Biden’s campaign, said the tally so far had shifted vote totals “almost imperceptibly” and in favor of Biden, and that there was no evidence of widespread wrongdoing.
Control of the United States Senate will be decided in two January runoff elections in Georgia, which will be important to the fate of Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda. Klain said that Biden could campaign in Georgia before the second round.
