Ten days after recording its first day with more than 100 new cases of COVID-19, Maine reached another milestone Monday – our first day with more than 200 cases.

That tracks with the spread of coronavirus around the country, with new cases topping 100,000 for the fifth day in a row. The United States is now the first country to record more than 10 million cases, just 10 days after being the first to reach 9 million.

Medical and public health experts say we have entered what could be the most dangerous period of the pandemic, and with widespread deployment of a vaccine months away at the earliest, it will be up to all of us to put aside our differences and take action to stop the spread before the virus sickens and kills the people closest to us.

At least in one respect, we are better off this week than we were a week ago. Last week we were still in the middle of a hard-fought presidential election, the outcome of which was not known. Now we know.

According to state election officials across the country, former Vice President Joe Biden has the votes he needs in the Electoral College to be the 46th president. President Trump is disputing some states’ results, but to change that result, he would need the courts to throw out a minimum of 87,000 votes distributed among the four closest states in Biden’s column – Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin. This is a sharp contrast from the controversial election of 2000, when there was a disputed outcome in just one state, Florida, where the candidates were separated by only 537 votes.

Trump’s lawyers can continue to pursue long-shot litigation, but the rest of us should face the facts. The election is over. Biden is president-elect.

Judging from his tweets, this is not the way Trump wants it to end. And it’s not the outcome desired by his 70 million supporters, including nearly 360,000 in Maine. Many are still claiming that the race is far from over because the official count has not been certified.

But that’s not how elections work in this country. A new president and administration are supposed to be ready to work on inauguration day, and taking over the reins of the federal government to assure a smooth transfer takes time. Even in much closer elections, we have never stopped the transition from getting started while waiting for states to finish their canvassing process (which takes weeks) or for courts to settle every dispute raised by the campaigns.

An efficient transition is more important this year because of the pandemic. Unlike the campaign, which highlighted our differences, the battle against coronavirus demands our cooperation. Trump will be president for the next two months, and he will be succeeded by Biden on Jan. 20. In the meantime, work has to be done in a nation where millions of people are unemployed, students are out of school and families are in fear of losing loved ones to an unpredictable disease.

With Congress back in session this week, its first priority should be passing a COVID relief bill that would send aid to states, cities, businesses and out-of-work Americans. With the election behind them, members of Congress should be able to find a way to work together while their constituents are suffering.

It was good to see that Maine Sen. Susan Collins was one of the first Republicans to congratulate Biden on Monday and acknowledge his victory, pending potential recounts and court cases. That response has not been forthcoming from most of her colleagues and her party’s leaders, who are still behaving as if the outcome of this election were in doubt.

In a crisis like COVID, Americans need a government that is committed to protecting their health and welfare a lot more than they need another month of campaigning. Elected officials should do their jobs and allow the courts to do theirs.

The election is over, and the work of government can’t wait.

Copy the Story Link