Joe Biden warns public against upcoming holiday travel

Presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden warned Americans on Wednesday against venturing out for major holiday gatherings in the coming weeks amid the still-raging coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Biden also warned that things will be “hard as hell” for out-of-luck workers without quick action from Congress on another round of COVID relief.

“You cannot be traveling during these holidays,” Mr. Biden said.

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He said he limited his typically expansive Thanksgiving gathering to four people: himself, his wife Jill, one of his daughters, and her husband.

“That’s it — all my other kids, everybody else in the family was on Zoom on Thanksgiving. Well, Christmas is going to be a lot harder,” he said.

“I don’t want to scare anybody here, but understand the facts: We’re likely to lose another 250,000 people dead between now and January because people aren’t paying attention,” he continued.

Mr. Biden’s comments came as Democratic politicians around the country have been caught flouting their own advice on gatherings and travel during the pandemic.

Mr. Biden was speaking from Delaware at a virtual event with workers and small business employees who have been struggling during the public health crisis.

He said it appears that Senate Republicans have already rejected a new $908 billion COVID relief plan that senators of both parties rolled out this week.

“It’s now back to square one again,” he said. “It wouldn’t be the answer, but it’d bring immediate help for a lot of things quickly.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer had backed off from their earlier demands for a pricier package and said Wednesday that the bipartisan plan should be a starting point for negotiations.

Mr. Biden urged the workers to “hang on.”

“We’re going to get through this — you’re going to get through this,” he said. “It’s going to be hard as hell for the next 50-70 days unless the House acts in some way, the Senate acts and passes [a bill].”