Biden picks Indian American to lead the new task force to tackle COVID crisis in US

 Indian-American physician DrVivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country.

Biden has set up this coronavirus task force in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

DrVivek Murthy along with two other co-chairs would lead a team of leading public health experts.

VivekHallegere Murthy is a physician and former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the nineteenth Surgeon General of the United States.

The appointment of Murthy comes at a time when the United States is witnessing a record number of Covid-19 infections.

Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America’s 19th Surgeon General by then-president Barack Obama in 2014.

Born in the UK, he was the youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration.

Biden, in his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night, said: “On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021”.

The President-elect, however, did not announce who would lead that task force.

The Washington Post said that the task force would be co-chaired by Dr Murthy, the former Surgeon General, and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

Ref: wionews