Even as his political opponent refused to concede defeat, United States President-elect Joe Biden began to assume responsibility for the country's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a brief speech from his home city, Wilmington, Delaware, on Nov. 9, Biden urged all Americans to begin wearing masks, reported The New York Times.

He also announced the formation of a 13-member Covid-19 task force to advise the incoming presidential transition team on the pandemic.

"A mask is not a political statement, but it’s a good way to start pulling the country together," said Biden.

The New York Times also quoted him as saying: "It doesn’t matter your party, your point of view. We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. Not Democratic or Republican lives — American lives."

According to a press release from Biden and Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris' transition team the Covid-19 task force will be made up of a team of "leading public health experts".

It will be chaired by David Kessler, who served as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's commissioner from 1990 to 1997; Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General during the Obama presidency; and Marcella Nunez-Smith, a professor from Yale University whose research focuses on healthcare amongst marginalised populations.

A rebuke to Trump

In what The New York Times called a "not-so-subtle rebuke" of U.S. President Donald Trump, Rick Bright, a vaccine expert was also included in the task force.

Bright was abruptly removed from his job running a federal medical research agency after casting doubt on Trump's claim that an anti-malaria drug could be an effective Covid-19 cure.

Biden's announcement and empathic endorsement of mask-wearing can be viewed in contrast to Trump's own handling of the pandemic.

The U.S. President was often criticised for ignoring the advice of medical experts and varying in his attitude towards masks.

The BBC reported that Biden also plans to reverse Trump's decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation.

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Top image from Joe Biden's Facebook