U.S. President Joe Biden talks about his administration’s plans to respond to the economic crisis during a coronavirus disease response event (COVID-19) at the White House state dining hall in Washington on May 22 January 2021.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden has drawn a bleak picture of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak in his first days in office, warning that it will take months to turn the pandemic’s trajectory around and that deaths are expected to rise sharply during the coming weeks.
“A lot of America is hurting. The virus is rising. We expect to reach 400,000 deaths above 600,000,” Biden said Friday before signing two executive orders designed to reduce hunger and strengthen workers’ rights amid the pandemic.
The United States on Tuesday surpassed 400,000 deaths from Covid-19, with a quarter of the deaths over the previous 36 days, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Biden’s first full day as president on Thursday, he told reporters after a meeting with his Covid-19 advisers, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, that the nation would likely exceed 500,000 deaths by Covid-19 in February .
Biden warned Friday that as the outbreak continues, “there is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the coming months.” The president has repeatedly warned that the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.
The United States has reported a decline in Covid-19 cases in recent days, a ray of hope after a surge from the fall through the winter holiday season. According to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data, the United States reports an average of approximately 187,593 new cases of Covid-19 daily, a drop of 22% compared to a week ago.
However, the nation is still “in a very serious situation,” Fauci said during his first press appearance at the White House under the new administration on Thursday, noting the country’s high death toll and hospital capacity.
Fauci said the daily number of cases, based on a weekly average, appears to be declining on the beach. It is possible that the fall may still occur due to a reduced report after the holidays, he added.
“When we see this, we think it’s real,” Fauci said.
This is a developing story. Please check back later for updates.