Biden orders masks, travel clampdown in new war on Covid

Washington - In addition to needing a negative Covid test result before flying, travellers to the US will now need to quarantine upon arrival

President Joe Biden on Thursday tightened mask wearing rules and ordered quarantine for people flying into the US, as he got to work on tackling the coronavirus pandemic on his first full day in power.

Signing 10 executive orders in the White House, Biden told the nation that the Covid-19 death toll would likely rise from 400,000 to half a million next month — and that drastic action was needed.

“We’re in a national emergency. It’s time we treated it like one,” he said, adding that he wants to restore public trust in the wake of the divisive Donald Trump era.

Scientists, he said, will “work free from political interference” under his administration, and he pledged: “We will level with you when we make a mistake.”

In addition to needing a negative Covid test result before flying, travellers to the US will now need to quarantine upon arrival, Biden said. This toughened existing regulations under Trump.

Biden’s other orders included reenergising a so-far-stumbling vaccination programme and expanding requirements to wear masks on public transport.

Wearing masks “has become a partisan issue, unfortunately, but it’s a patriotic act,” Biden said, in a marked contrast to Trump, who for months gave mixed messages about whether or not to encourage the practice.

Although vaccines were produced at a blistering speed in Trump’s final year in power, the rollout has been chaotic.

“What we’re inheriting is so much worse than we could have imagined,” Jeff Zients, the new White House Covid-19 response coordinator, told reporters.

Biden has announced a goal of 100 million vaccines administered in 100 days, with his top experts saying it remains possible. So far, only 16.5 million doses have been injected.

When asked if he had been ambitious enough, Biden shot back: “When I announced it, you all said it’s not possible. Come on, give me a break, man.”

Biden said the administration was expanding places where Americans will be able to get their doses, with new community centres and extra medical staff to administer the vaccine.

He has also restored top infectious diseases doctor Anthony Fauci to a leading, visible advisory role in the White House, after Trump complained about the expert’s warnings on Covid.