The appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, tried to straighten the message from the Biden government about the coronavirus pandemic after President Biden presented a fatalistic view of the immediate future.
At a news conference on Friday, Biden said “there is nothing we can do to change the path of the pandemic in the coming months”, warning that inaction would result in foreclosures and evictions. On Sunday, Becerra indicated that the government does have a plan, but it will not have immediate results.
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“I believe President Biden made it very clear, the plane is in free fall and we have to pull it up. And you are not going to do that overnight,” Becerra told Dana State host Dana Bash, on CNN. “But we are going to pull up, we have to pull up. Failure is not an option here, and we will do so.”
Becerra continued, saying that Biden’s plan is “a rescue plan that must be followed by a recovery plan”. He said that the government must first “rescue the people” and the economy.
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When asked whether this means he believes the government can indeed change the path of the pandemic, Becerra reiterated that it would not happen “overnight,” but said that progress is possible if people work together.
“We can do better,” he said. “We can not only control Covid, but also take us back to true normality. But it takes everyone. All hands on deck. We need to make sure that we are coordinated. And we are talking to people. We cannot just say the states, ‘Here are some PPE, some masks, here are some vaccines, now go do it.’ No, no. When we deliver them, we keep them and provide resources to make that happen. “
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Becerra then said that the simple act of everyone wearing masks would be enough to make an impact.
“If we can get people to follow the president’s advice to wear a mask for the first 100 days, we will get control of that,” he said.