Biden vows action on 'day one' to halt spiraling coronavirus crisis

Joe Biden said Friday as he closed in on winning the US presidency he would he waste no time in addressing the Covid pandemic upon taking office.

"I want everyone, everyone to know on day one we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action," Biden said in a late night address from his hometown Wilmington, in Delaware.

Biden expressed confidence that he would defeat President Donald Trump as vote counting dragged on from Tuesday's election but stopped short of declaring himself the winner.

He pledged to unite a bitterly divided nation.

"It's time for us to come together as a nation to heal," Biden said. (AFP)