Combo photo shows Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attending their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua)

The United States, nowhere near bringing the virus under control, is scrambling to strike a balance between securing economic recovery and handling the pandemic.

NEW YORK, Aug. 19  -- Halfway through the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC), U.S. voters are keenly watching who will come out of this year's presidential election to lead the United States that is struggling to get the coronavirus under control, bring the economy back on track and heal the wounds of racial division.

The almost all-virtual DNC, which kicked off Monday and runs through Thursday, has seen Former Vice President Joe Biden officially become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee to take on sitting President Donald Trump.

COVID-19 leadership, health care and tax reform are issues of particular importance for LeeAnne Johnson, a 53-year-old political consultant who identifies as a Democrat.

She expects the next U.S. president "to allocate funds that will allow states and municipalities to do what needs to be done, to pass legislation that has funded mandates to stop COVID, to lead."

The coronavirus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, has infected 5.5 million Americans and claimed more than 172,000 lives as of Wednesday. The Trump administration's pandemic response has been deeply divisive across the country.