乔拜登总统周一承诺支持与 Covid-19 的 omicron 变体作斗争的州长，但承认各州需要带头控制大流行。
拜登在与美国一些州长会面之前说：“没有联邦解决方案。这在州一级得到解决。”
这些评论代表了拜登政府迄今为止最明确的承认之一，即在遏制 Covid-19 传播的努力中需要州和地方政府的帮助。
总统可能担心，如果没有各州的帮助，联邦遏制病毒的举措将无法奏效。这些评论也可能是为了向州长施加更大的压力，要求他们在控制疾病方面发挥更大的作用。
在发表讲话后，拜登就他是否支持缩短隔离期的修订建议提出了一个问题。
“我依靠我的医疗团队。我得到了一个推荐，我遵循了它，”他说。
美国疾病控制与预防中心最近编辑了其对可能接触过该病毒的人的建议。 CDC 表示，与建议的标准 14 天隔离不同，根据检测结果和症状，疑似暴露应导致隔离 10 或 7 天。
omicron 变体对拜登构成了多方面的威胁，拜登竞选联邦政府遏制大流行的能力。总统周一重申了他上周做出的一些承诺，包括联邦政府购买 5 亿个快速冠状病毒检测。
“我给州长们的信息很简单：如果你需要什么，就说点什么，”他说。 “我们将尽我们所能支持你。”
政府计划向美国人免费分发测试，支持更多的疫苗接种和测试站点，并部署 1,000 名军事医疗专业人员，以增加全国的医院工作人员。
但该病毒的变异、传播能力以及偶尔在接种疫苗的人中导致阳性病例的能力，使得政府减缓疾病的承诺变得更加困难。病毒和疫苗已被政治化。许多美国人，尤其是那些支持前总统唐纳德特朗普的人，拒绝接种疫苗。
由于全国对病毒的态度和公共安全优先事项的不同，州长们对拜登政府的努力的反应喜忧参半。
德克萨斯州州长、共和党人格雷格·阿博特 (Greg Abbott) 于 10 月发布了一项行政命令，禁止任何实体（包括私营企业）对员工或客户实施 Covid-19 疫苗接种要求。被认为是 2024 年共和党总统候选人的佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯（Ron DeSantis）最近几个月已经脱离了联邦公共卫生指导，并缩减了口罩和疫苗的要求。
拜登政府数周以来一直强调，美国人在 2021 年假期期间应格外小心，以保护家人免受疾病传播。
总统发表上述言论之际，Covid-19 病例在圣诞节假期周末激增。
过去一周，这种高度传染性的 omicron 变体导致包括新泽西州和纽约州在内的少数几个州报告的冠状病毒病例比大流行期间任何其他 7 天期间都要多。
Biden says Covid surge needs to be solved at state level, vows full federal support
President Joe Biden on Monday pledged to support governors struggling with the omicron variant of Covid-19, but acknowledged the states will need to take the lead in controlling the pandemic.
Speaking just before a meeting with some of the nation's governors, Biden said: “There is no federal solution. This gets solved at a state level.”
Those comments represent one of the most explicit acknowledgements to date from the Biden administration that it will need help from state and local governments in its efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The president may be concerned that federal initiatives to contain the virus can't be effective without states' help. The comments could also be an attempt to put added pressure on governors to take a greater role in trying to control the disease.
After his remarks, Biden took one question about whether he supports revised recommendations for shortened quarantine periods.
“I rely on my medical team. I get a recommendation, I follow it,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently edited its recommendations for people who may have been exposed to the virus. Instead of the standard 14-day quarantine it had recommended, the CDC says that suspected exposures should result in a quarantine of 10 or seven days based on test results and symptoms.
The omicron variant poses a multifaceted threat to Biden, who campaigned on the federal government's ability to curb the pandemic. The president on Monday reiterated some of the promises he made last week, including the federal government's purchase of 500 million rapid coronavirus tests.
“My message to the governors is simple: if you need something, say something,” he said. “We're going to have your back any way we can.”
The administration plans to distribute the tests free to Americans, support more vaccination and testing sites, and deploy 1,000 military medical professionals to augment hospital staff nationwide.
But the virus's ability to mutate, spread and occasionally lead to positive cases among those who have received a vaccine has made the administration's promise to slow the disease more difficult. The virus and vaccine have become politicized. Many Americans, especially those supportive of former President Donald Trump, refuse to be vaccinated.
Reflecting differences in attitude toward the virus and public safety priorities nationwide, governors' responses to the Biden administration's efforts have been mixed.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, issued an executive order in October prohibiting any entity, including private businesses, from imposing Covid-19 vaccination requirements on employees or customers. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, thought to be a 2024 Republican presidential contender, has in recent months broken away from federal public health guidance and curtailed mask and vaccine mandates.
The Biden administration has for weeks stressed that Americans should take extra care during the 2021 holiday season to protect their families from the spread of the disease.
The president's remarks came as Covid-19 cases surged over the Christmas holiday weekend.
The highly infectious omicron variant has in the past week caused a handful of states, including New Jersey and New York, to report more coronavirus cases than in any other seven-day period during the pandemic.
