Joe Biden was inaugurated as President of the United States this week. (Image by BarBus from Pixabay)
Masks and social distancing were the order of the day at U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris’s inauguration this week. That was the first sign of change in the new presidency; the second sign was Biden’s speech.
“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war,” Biden said. “We must meet this moment as the ‘United’ States of America.”
He called for people to put aside their differences and said he would work to repair the U.S.’s alliances and engage the world again.
“America has to be better than this,” he said. “We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.”
He urged Americans to act together to defeat the coronavirus.
More than 25 million Americans have had covid-19 and more than 400,000 people have died. On Biden’s first day in office, he signed a mandatory mask order and rejoined the World Health Organization.
We can only hope Biden’s leadership will contribute to a slowdown in the pandemic and, eventually, a complete recovery.
Also, I note that Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton wore shades of purple to the ceremony. Purple is a blend of blue (the traditional Republican colour) and red (the traditional Democrat colour.) Nice touch.
Here are the other changes this week:
- Global deaths have surpassed 2 million.
- There’s a production delay with the Pfizer vaccine that will delay B.C.’s vaccination program over the next month, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said. However, Dr. Henry and B.C. Premier John Horgan are set to announce the next steps in the program on Friday morning.
- Only about 47 per cent of people in long-term care homes have visitors in regular times, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said.
- A study in Britain found that young children are only half as likely as adults to transmit the new, more contagious covid-19 variant, the New York Times reports. That’s positive, but because the variant is more contagious, more people still stand to get the virus.
- Metro Vancouver has lost 4,380 businesses and 40,700 jobs since the pandemic began, the Vancouver Sun reported.
- Nearly three-quarters of B.C. businesses said in a survey that their business was reduced due to the pandemic, the Vancouver Sun reported.
- Twenty-three elderly people died after receiving the covid-19 vaccine in Norway, CNN reported. Whether the deaths were related to the vaccine is being investigated, Norway health authorities urged doctors to weigh the risks and benefits before vaccinating extremely frail people.
- Scientists are concerned about a new variant that has emerged in Brazil, with several mutations, one of which appears to help the virus avoid antibodies, NPR reported.
- An unidentified variant infected nearly every resident of one Ontario care home and killed 19 people there, the Globe and Mail reported.
- Eating disorders are affecting more children and teens than in the past and pandemic isolation isn’t helping, the Globe and Mail reported.
- B.C. Premier John Horgan said B.C. cannot restrict inter-provincial travel, unless the travellers are causing harm. He said much of such travel is for work purposes, so it would be unfair. “If we see transmission increase due to interprovincial travel, we will impose stronger restrictions on non-essential travellers,” he said.
As I said last week, I do think B.C. could at least ask inter-provincial travellers (not those coming or going for work) to self-isolate for 14 days. It wouldn't be enforceable, but it would be a start.
Stay healthy, all.
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