<p>US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office on Jan. 20 on the steps of the US Capitol, but the inaugural festivities will be largely virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the planning committee said on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Both the ceremony and traditional parade that follows will have limited attendance and be reimagined, the committee planning the event said in a statement. The committee is urging members of the public to refrain from traveling to Washington for the inauguration, which in the past has drawn hundreds of thousands.</p>.<p>Biden spent much of the 2020 presidential election following Covid-19 safety protocols, holding relatively few-in person events and campaigning virtually from his home base in Delaware.</p>.<p>"Our goal is to create an inauguration that keeps people safe, honors the grand traditions of the presidency, and showcases the Biden-Harris administration’s renewed American vision for an inclusive, equitable, and unified citizenry,” Tony Allen, the CEO of the inaugural committee, said in the statement.</p>.<p>In that way, the inaugural is likely to be similar to last summer’s Democratic convention, which featured virtual programs with participants across the nation.</p>.<p>The pandemic, which experts expect to worsen over the winter months in the United States despite the approval of a vaccine, has killed more than 300,000 Americans. Biden made President Donald Trump’s handling of the health crisis a centerpiece of his campaign.</p>.<p>It remains unclear whether Trump, who has refused to acknowledge his loss to Biden despite an Electoral College vote on Monday that affirmed the Democrat's victory, will attend Biden’s swearing-in ceremony or meet with him at the White House, as is custom.</p>
<p>US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office on Jan. 20 on the steps of the US Capitol, but the inaugural festivities will be largely virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the planning committee said on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Both the ceremony and traditional parade that follows will have limited attendance and be reimagined, the committee planning the event said in a statement. The committee is urging members of the public to refrain from traveling to Washington for the inauguration, which in the past has drawn hundreds of thousands.</p>.<p>Biden spent much of the 2020 presidential election following Covid-19 safety protocols, holding relatively few-in person events and campaigning virtually from his home base in Delaware.</p>.<p>"Our goal is to create an inauguration that keeps people safe, honors the grand traditions of the presidency, and showcases the Biden-Harris administration’s renewed American vision for an inclusive, equitable, and unified citizenry,” Tony Allen, the CEO of the inaugural committee, said in the statement.</p>.<p>In that way, the inaugural is likely to be similar to last summer’s Democratic convention, which featured virtual programs with participants across the nation.</p>.<p>The pandemic, which experts expect to worsen over the winter months in the United States despite the approval of a vaccine, has killed more than 300,000 Americans. Biden made President Donald Trump’s handling of the health crisis a centerpiece of his campaign.</p>.<p>It remains unclear whether Trump, who has refused to acknowledge his loss to Biden despite an Electoral College vote on Monday that affirmed the Democrat's victory, will attend Biden’s swearing-in ceremony or meet with him at the White House, as is custom.</p>