Joe Biden critiques Trump, proposes plan to ‘safely reopen’ America

In this file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Del.(Matt Rourke/AP)

Joe Biden slammed President Trump’s ham-fisted response to the coronavirus outbreak and proposed steps to “safely reopen America” on Sunday.

“The administration’s failure to plan, to prepare, to honestly assess and communicate the threat to the nation led to catastrophic results,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “We cannot repeat those mistakes.”

Echoing state and local leaders’ calls, Biden said the feds must run “multiple times the number of diagnostic tests we’re performing right now” and boost “rapid serology tests to tell who has already been infected with the coronavirus and has antibodies.”

Biden also called for “effective disease surveillance,” but did not provide detail on the controversial issue.

He promised to work with unions and feds to come up with on-the-job protections and to meet with experts in the private sector and come up with ways to open each industry safely.

Social distancing must continue, Biden wrote, though he did not provide a timeline for the measure. The president should use the full force of the Defense Production Act to boost vital supplies, he added.

“The American people have already paid too high a price in illness, death and economic loss,” Biden concluded. “This time, the White House has to get it right.”

Nationwide, there were more than 540,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 21,400 deaths as of Sunday afternoon, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.