Biden starts term with COVID actions on masks, support for WHO

The 46th US president, Joe Biden, will make several executive orders today pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, including issuing a mask mandate on federal grounds, reports CNN. Biden will also ask Americans to wear a mask when in public for the next 100 days, and to adhere to physical distancing. He has already set forth a goal of distributing 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the next 100 days. 'As you've heard the president-elect say, the pandemic will continue to get worse before it gets better,' Jeff Zients, the incoming White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told reporters according to the Washington Post. 'This is clearly a national emergency and we will treat it as such.'