US President-elect Joe Biden said on Thursday that despite a
surge in the number of cases, he would not order a national shutdown to fight the
Covid-19 pandemic, reported AFP.

On a regional level, different states and cities have been
imposing restrictions such as home confinement, ban on indoor dining and limiting
gatherings on their own.

“There’s no circumstance which I can see that would require
total national shutdown. I think that would be counterproductive,” the recent President-elect scheduled to take office on January 20, told reporters.

Biden notified that according to the risk in the area-level,
restrictions pertaining to businesses and economic activities have to be
adapted as there exist varying degrees of viral threat across the nation.

Also Read: Chapare virus: Ebola-like deadly virus that can spread from human-to-human

According to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University the United
States, till now, has seen more than 251,000 deaths and 11.6 million reported infections
from Covid.

Meanwhile, as Center for Disease Control pushed for citizens
to not travel in next week’s Thanksgiving holidays this year, Henry Walke, a CDC
doctor in charge of day-to-day management of the pandemic response, alleged
that “it’s not a requirement. It is a strong recommendation,”.

Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday in terms of travel, as many
Americans take the Friday off and go to see family in other states.

Incumbent President Donald Trump, on the other hand, has remained
largely out of public eye as he furthered his yet unsubstantiated fraud claims in
the electoral process.

Also Read: Amid rising COVID-19 cases, US sees sharp increase in jobless claims

Vice President Mike Pence, during a briefing on Thursday, said “America
has never been more prepared to control this virus than we are today,”.

Trump has, since the arrival of the viral disease on American
soil, refused to acknowledge and downplayed the grave situation, insisting improvement
in the situation.