Since his inauguration, President Biden outlined a national strategy to address the COVID-19 pandemic and signed numerous executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also rejoined the World Health Organization in support of their efforts to coordinate the international response to COVID-19.
Below are executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Protecting Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing: Asks the American people to wear a mask for the next 100 days; requires physical distancing in all federal buildings, on all federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors; asks HHS and CDC to engage with state, local, Tribal, and territorial officials to implement masking, physical distancing, and other CDC public measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
- Mobilizing the U.S. Government and U.S. Leadership on Global Health and Security: Creates the position of COVID-19 Response Coordinator, who will report directly to the President and be responsible for coordinating all elements of the COVID-19 response across government; rejoins the World Health Organization; exercises the Defense Production Act to manufacture and deliver supplies for vaccination, testing, and PPE.
- Establishing the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board and Ensuring a Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats: Establishes a Pandemic Testing board to identify issues and assist in implementation of testing solutions; directs actions to address the cost of COVID-19 testing; establishes a public health workforce plan.
- Protecting Worker Health and Safety: Addresses potential changes within OSHA and at state level to better protect workers from COVID-19 and ensure workers previously not identified but at risk have adequate protections.
- Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers: Identifies actions to assist in the safe reopening of schools and early childhood education.
- Ensuring Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery: Establishes a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force; Identified actions to ensure equitable response, including those to address vaccine hesitancy.
- Ensuring a data-driven response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats: Enhances COVID-19 data collection and seeks to strengthen public health infrastructure.
- Improving and Expanding Access for COVID-19 Care and Treatments: Mandates development of plans to support research that assist in advancing COVID-19 therapies; seeks to improve capacity to address COVID-19 in a variety of settings.
- Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel: Immediately requires masks on domestic forms of transportation (airplanes, trains, buses, etc.) and requires negative COVID-19 tests, quarantine or combination thereof for entry into the United States from travel abroad.
- Directive to Extend Federal Support to Governor’s Use of National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Increase Reimbursement and other Assistance Provided to States: Provides full federal funding for National Guard response to COVID-19; provides fully-funded FEMA assistance to state, local, and tribal efforts to reopen and operate schools, child care facilities, health care systems, shelters, transit systems and others.
