Biden to launch taskforce on coronavirus; Trump plans protest rallies

Washington

US President-elect Joe Biden will convene a coronavirus taskforce on Monday to examine the No 1 problem confronting him when he takes office in January, while President Donald Trump is pursuing several long-shot gambits to hold on to his job.

Mr Biden is due to meet with an advisory board co-chaired by former surgeon-general Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler and Yale University associate professor Marcella Nunez-Smith to examine how best to tame a pandemic that has killed more than 237,000 Americans.

Mr Biden also hailed as a cause for "hope" the news that a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 per cent effective - but warned of a long battle still ahead. "I congratulate the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough, and to give us such cause for hope," he said in a statement, adding that he received advance notice of the announcement on Sunday night.

"At the same time, it is also important to understand that the end of the battle against Covid-19 is still months away," he added, stressing the continued importance of mask-wearing for the foreseeable future.

"Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts," he added.

The group of scientists and experts will liaise with local and state officials on the pandemic response, including how to safely reopen schools and firms and tackle racial disparities.

They include Rick Bright, who was removed as head of a federal agency called the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority earlier this year; and Luciana Borio, who specialises in complex public health emergencies.

Mr Trump has frequently clashed with top health officials over the pandemic. Vice-President Mike Pence is due to meet the White House coronavirus taskforce on Monday for the first time since Oct 20.

Mr Trump has not acknowledged defeat at the polls, and has launched an array of lawsuits to press claims of election fraud for which he has produced no evidence. State officials said they are not aware of any significant irregularities.

Mr Trump has no public events scheduled for Monday, and has not spoken in public since last Thursday. He plans to hold rallies to build support for his challenge to the election results, campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said.

Mr Biden's advisers are moving ahead and considering candidates for top Cabinet posts. But the transition cannot shift into high gear until the US General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees federal property, certifies the winner.

Emily Murphy, the Trump appointee who runs the agency, has not yet done so. A GSA spokeswoman gave no timetable for the decision.

Until then, the GSA can continue providing Mr Biden's team with offices, computers and background checks for security clearances, but they cannot yet enter federal agencies or access federal funds set aside for the transition.

The Biden campaign on Sunday pressed the agency to move ahead. "America's national security and economic interests depend on the federal government signalling clearly and swiftly that the United States government will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and peaceful transfer of power," the campaign said in a statement.

Mr Trump, however, has shown no signs that he will engage in a transition.

Mr Murtaugh said Mr Trump will hold a series of rallies to build support for the legal fights challenging the outcome, though Mr Murtaugh did not say when and where they would take place.

Mr Trump will seek to back up his as yet unsubstantiated accusations of voting fraud by highlighting obituaries of dead people whom the campaign said voted in the election, Mr Murtaugh said.

Mr Trump also announced teams to pursue recounts in several states. Experts said that effort, like his lawsuits, are unlikely to meet with success.

"The chances of a recount flipping tens of thousands of votes across multiple states in his favour are outside anything we have seen in American history," William Antholis, director of the University of Virginia's Miller Center think tank, wrote in an essay on Sunday.

Leaders from across the globe have congratulated Mr Biden, including some of Mr Trump's allies, but many of his fellow Republicans have yet to recognise the Democrat's victory. REUTERS