The Biden administration said Monday it plans to end the nation’s COVID-19 public health emergency in May, more than three years after the virus began circulating in the country.
The White House plans to renew existing emergency declarations again before they expire on May 11, allowing local governments and health care workers to return to pre-pandemic operations and avoid any chaos caused by an abrupt end to the declarations. In the event of a public health emergency, programs such as Medicare and Medicaid can provide additional funding to states to address pandemic-related care. Millions of Americans have been able to receive free tests for COVID-19, and many can receive virus-related treatments without co-pays.
The state of emergency has been renewed every 90 days since the Trump administration first declared it in 2020, with the most recent renewal on January 11. Biden’s White House said it would provide at least 60 days’ notice before ending the statement.
“Suddenly ending emergency declarations would create widespread chaos and uncertainty in the health care system — for states, for hospitals and doctors’ offices, and most importantly for tens of millions of Americans,” the White House said. This was stated by Management and Budget in a note. “If PHE were to end suddenly, it would wreak havoc on this critical slowdown.”
Ending the public health emergency will also end the controversial Title 42 Border Policy, which allows the government to deport foreign nationals and restrict asylum seekers hoping to enter the United States.
The plan signals that the federal government is ready to return to some semblance of normalcy. Many Americans are now vaccinated, even with booster shots, and the country has widespread access to up-to-date vaccinations and treatment regimens that dramatically reduce the risk of death and serious illness associated with the virus.
However, on average, more than 500 people in the United States die from COVID every day.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic remained a global health emergency, but said it may change that statement in the near future as the virus approaches a “tipping point”.
“We remain hopeful that in the coming year the world will enter a new phase where we will reduce hospitalizations and deaths to the lowest possible level,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
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