COVID-19: Biden, Harris meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate leader Schumer

US President-elect Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris have met House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer and discussed their shared priorities to provide immediate help to working families and small businesses struggling due to COVID-19.

Biden, Harris, Pelosi and Schumer in their first meeting discussed the surges in COVID-19 infection rates and the corresponding economic strain that communities, working families, and small businesses are experiencing across the country, the transition team said in a statement after the meeting held in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday.

"They agreed that Congress needed to pass a bipartisan emergency aid package in the lameduck session, and that package should include resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, relief for working families and small businesses, support for state and local governments trying to keep frontline workers on the payroll, expanded unemployment insurance, and affordable health care for millions of families," it said.

During the meeting, Biden raised his agenda for the first 100 days of his presidency, including taking aggressive action to contain COVID-19, providing resources to small businesses, families, schools, and state and local governments to power economic recovery, and investing in the middle class to build back better.

"The president-elect asked the Democratic leadership for their support and partnership in advancing this agenda and delivering on the American people's mandate for action," the transition said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has now reported over 250,537 deaths and more than 11.5 million confirmed cases.

It has more reported infections and a higher death toll than any other country worldwide.

The coronavirus is now killing at least one American every minute of the day, bringing the country to another horrific milestone on Wednesday: At least 250,029 people in the country have died of COVID-19 since the first death on February 29 in Washington state, CNN reported on Wednesday.

According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 1,349,700 people have died and over 56,270,000 confirmed cases across the world.

The story has been taken from a news agency