Joe Biden says he will ask EVERYONE to wear a mask for 100 DAYS to bring COVID under control

President-elect Joe Biden said he will ask Americans to mask up for 100 days as soon as he takes the oath of office and noted he asked Dr. Anthony Fauci to be his chief medical adviser on the pandemic. 

‘On the first day I’m inaugurated I’m going to ask the public for 100 days to mask – just 100 days to mask. Not forever,’ Biden told CNN‘s Jake Tapper on Thursday. 

‘And I think we’ll see a significant reduction’ in COVID cases when that happens, he said.

Inauguration Day is January 20th. Biden has pushed for Americans to wear the face coverings, even suggesting he may do a national mandate, to combat the disease.

President-elect Joe Biden said he will ask Americans to mask up for 100 days as soon as he takes the oath of office

Biden said he’s spoken to Dr. Anthony Fauci and asked him to be his chief medical adviser on the pandemic.

Biden’s plans come as there was a new record in the United States on Wednesday, the most ever COVID deaths in one day at 2,670. 

More than 100,200 patients were in U.S. hospitals Wednesday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

The president-elect also revealed he’s spoken to Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and asked him to stay in his current job and play a senior role in his administration.

‘I asked him to stay on the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the COVID team,’ Biden told CNN as part of the first joint interview with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Biden added that Ron Klain, his incoming chief of staff, knew Fauci well and had been talking to him ‘all the time.’

Fauci has clashed at times with Donald Trump as the president has made such suggestions as injecting bleach in oneself to combat the coronavirus and pushed for an economic recovery ahead of medical advise.

But the doctor, who was an early expert on the AIDS crisis, has become a public hero and trusted face of the disease as cases rise across the nation. 

Experts have warned the coming winter months will be difficult and cases of the disease will continue to rise.

‘The reality is, December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they’re going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation, largely because of the stress that’s going to be put on our health care system,’ CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield said.

Additionally, Biden said he’d be ‘happy’ to take a COVID vaccine once Fauci says it’s safe to do so and that he’d so so publicly to demonstrate his confidence in it.

 ‘People have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work. Already the numbers are really staggeringly low, and it matters what the President and Vice President do,’ he said.

All three former presidents – Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton – said they would publicly take a COVID vaccine to instill confidence in it

His comments come the day after three of his presidential predecessors — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — said they would publicly get the coronavirus vaccine as a way to demonstrate its safety and efficacy.

‘I think that my three predecessors have set the model as to what should be done, saying, once it’s declared to be safe… then obviously we take it and it’s important to communicate to the American people,’ Biden said.

There are at least three possible COVID vaccines showing strong signs of efficacy.

And the Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting for Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer’s request for emergency use authorization.

Meanwhile, lock downs are on the horizon for some parts of the country as cases grow.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a new stay-at-home order in parts of the state where hospitals have less than 15 percent ICU capacity

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a new stay-at-home order for regions where fewer than 15 percent of intensive care unit beds are available.

The new order divides the state into five regions – none of which currently meet the threshold for the new restrictions. 

However Newsom said four out of five regions – Greater Sacramento, Northern California, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California – are on track to hit that threshold within a few days and the fifth – the Bay Area – is expected to meet it by the middle of the month.  

When they do surpass 85 percent capacity, the state will order affected regions to close hair salons and barber shops, limit retail stores to 20 percent capacity and only allow restaurants to offer take-out and delivery for at least three weeks.