KANSAS CITY, Mo. — President-Elect Joe Biden plans to create a task force to combat the novel coronavirus, and one Kansas health leader believes that could be what helps defeat the virus.
Biden, who will begin his term in the middle of a deadly pandemic, said during his acceptance speech Saturday night that he would on Monday name "a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint."
The task force's work would begin Jan. 20, 2021, and its strategy will include urging governors to mandate mask wearing in their states, create a plan to distribute vaccines and expand COVID-19 testing.
Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told 41 Action News that Biden’s new task force might help the U.S. turn the corner in its fight against the virus.
"I think it will be a change in the course taken, one," Norman said. "I think there will be much more on the emphasis on the science and epidemiology."
According to reports, three people will head Biden’s COVID-19 task force:
- Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.
- Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler.
- Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, of Yale University.
While Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly put a statewide mask mandate in place, lawmakers overruled that decision and allowed counties to opt-out.
However, Norman said he believes Biden’s rhetoric on the pandemic will be helpful.
"I think that when we get the encouragement from our leaders, elected or otherwise, I think that it does change the mindset," Norman said. "Even if people grumble about it, to say, 'You know, maybe there is something to that.'"
As of Sunday, more than 64,000 COVID-19 cases had been reported in the Kansas City metro, while Kansas reported more than 99,000 and Missouri reported more than 212,000, according to the 41 Action News COVID-19 case tracker.