USA / US COVID-19 death toll likely to top 5 lakh in February: Biden

Washington: The United States' death toll from COVID-19 is likely to top 5,00,000 next month, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, while unveiling his national strategy to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. 

While addressing COVID-19 response at the White House, Biden sought to reassure Americans that restoring "public trust" is a top priority of his administration's plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic. He said: "Help is on the way".

Biden plans to sign at least 10 executive orders, memorandums and directives focused on addressing the pandemic, CNN reported.

"Things are going to continue to get worse before they get better. The memorial we held two nights ago will not be our last one, unfortunately. The death toll will likely top 500,000 next month. And the cases will continue to mount. We did not get into this mess overnight, and it is going to take months for us to turn things around. But let me be equally clear. We will get through this. We will defeat this pandemic. And to a nation waiting for action, let me be the clearest on this point: help is on the way," he said.

"Above all, our plan is to restore public trust. We will make sure that scientists and public health experts will speak directly to you," Biden said this afternoon at the White House. "That is why you are going to be hearing a lot more from Dr [Anthony] Fauci again, not from the President but from the real genuine experts and scientists."

Urging every American to mask up for the next 100 days, he said: "The experts say that by wearing masks from now till April, we can save more than 50,000 lives."

President Biden called his plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic “a wartime undertaking.”

“Our national plan launches a full-scale wartime effort to address the supply shortages by ramping up production and protective equipment, syringes, needles, you name it,” he said.

"And when I say wartime, people kind of look at me like ‘wartime?’ Well, as I said last night, 400,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19. That is more than the number of people who died in World War II. This is a wartime undertaking,” he added.