US President Joe Biden announced his COVID-19 plan for the country while signing another flurry of executive orders relating to containing the virus. 

Biden started his address by thanking the law enforcement and other federal agencies of the US for their service in the past few days. While demonstrating hope for the people of America, the President said “Things are going to get worse before they get better. But I can assure you, help is on the way”.

Biden also called this effort of his administration “a wartime undertaking”. He said, “And when I say wartime, people kind of look at me like ‘wartime?’ Well, as I said last night, 4,00,000 Americans have died. That’s more than have died in all of World War II, 4,00,000. This is a wartime undertaking.” 

He, while holding the published 198-page plan, announced that the primary focus of the new plan will be to increase the safe and effective vaccination program exponentially while reaffirming that the decisions made by federal authorities will be comprehensive and based on science and truth while giving no consideration to its political aspects. 

Also Read: Pete Buttigieg testifies before Senate for transportation secretary post

The President, while emphasising that over 50,000 lives can be saved if Americans follow the safety protocols, laid focus on the preventive norms of social distancing and wearing masks and classified these acts as “Patriotic”. 

According to the new COVID-19 response plan, international travelers inbound for the US will now have to produce a negative COVID-19 test and quarantine after landing. 

While addressing the key role of federal agencies in tackling the pandemic, the President announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been instructed to establish a COVID-19 response liaison in each state which shall give every state a point person for responding to the pandemic. 

Also Read: Defence Department to stop border wall construction while reviewing executive order from President Joe Biden

Before signing the 10 executive orders, while US Vice President Kamala Harris stood right behind the President, he said, “We are in a national emergency, and it’s time we start treating it like one.”

Biden has identified mask-wearing, a revamped vaccination program, and a massive new stimulus bill to help Americans’ COVID-19-hit finances as his top goals for bringing the multi-layered crisis under control.

The new White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zienets, said, “What we’re inheriting is so much worse than we could have imagined.”