Biden announces three more members in coronavirus task force as cases surge

US President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday said that he is adding three new members in the Coronavirus task force as cases of the Wuhan-originated virus continue to surge in the US.

According to The Hill, The transition said in a statement that Jane Hopkins, Jill Jim and David Michaels are joining the team, which is co-chaired by David Kessler, former Indian American Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Marcella Nunez-Smith. The task force is charged with helping Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

"As COVID-19 surges across the country, I need a team advising me and a transition that offers diverse perspectives and viewpoints. Ms. Hopkins, Dr. Jim, and Dr. Michaels will strengthen the board's work and help ensure that our COVID-19 planning will address inequities in health outcomes and the workforce," said President-elect Biden in a statement.

According to a statement released by the Biden-Harris Transition website, Hopkins, a Sierra Leonean immigrant, has worked for more than 20 years as a bedside nurse and has a long history in union work, a choice that appears to reflect Biden's emphasis on appealing to labor groups. She's also received the Black Lives Matter Award from the SEIU Washington State AFRAM Caucus.

Whereas Jim is the executive director at the Navajo Nation Department of Health. " For 18 years, she has served urban and tribal communities in non-profit, state, federal agencies and most recently tribal government, serving as a cabinet member for the Navajo Nation Nez-Lizer Administration," the website read.

The website stated that Michaels is an epidemiologist and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University.

"He served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health from 2009 to January 2017, the longest-serving administrator in OSHA's history. During the Clinton Administration, Dr. Michaels served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety, and Health, charged with protecting the workers, community, and environment around the nation's nuclear weapons facilities," the website stated.

These announcements of the three new members in the coronavirus task force comes after the US surpassed 13 million COVID-19 cases on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University.