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| Mr Biden, a Democrat, has promised to beat the pandemic that has killed more than 385,000 people in the US. (Photo from BBC News) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] President-elect Joe Biden has unveiled a $1.9tn (£1.4tn) stimulus plan for the coronavirus-sapped US economy before he takes office next week. If passed by Congress, it would include $1tn for households, with direct payments of $1,400 to all Americans.
The relief proposal includes $415bn to fight the virus and $440bn for small businesses. Mr. Biden, a Democrat, has promised to beat the pandemic that has killed more than 385,000 people in the US. He campaigned last year vowing to do a better job handling the virus than outgoing President Donald Trump, a Republican. The direct payments of $1,400 would come on top of $600 payments provided in a relief bill enacted last month.
Mr. Biden's proposal comes as a winter surge of the coronavirus breaks records. Each day brings well over 200,000 new cases in the US and the daily death toll sometimes tops 4,000. Mr. Biden wants to pump $20bn into vaccinating Americans, including setting up mass vaccination hubs and dispatching mobile units to remote areas. Two effective vaccines were delivered under the Trump administration, but health officials say the rollout needs to speed up. So far, about 11 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
