Biden says the covid pandemic is ‘over’

President Joe Biden said the Covid-19 pandemic is “over” in a statement that surprised officials in his administration and sparked questions about why the government continues to maintain federal mandates and seek more funding to fight the disease.

Biden’s statement, made during an interview with CBS ’60 Minutes that aired Sunday night, came as a surprise to government officials, two senior health officials said. The Washington Post.

And his decent remark may have torpedoed his request to Congress for $22.4 billion in funds to fight the pandemic. Republicans were already wary of backing the funding, and Biden’s statement won him no support.

“The pandemic is over,” Biden told CBS News. “We still have a problem with COVID. We are still working on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice that no one is wearing masks. Everyone seems to be in pretty good shape, so I think it’s changing.”

Earlier this summer, the US renewed its order to declare Covid a national emergency. The designation was due to expire in October. It gives the administration flexibility to fight the pandemic, including authorizing treatments quickly and keeping many Americans covered by Medicaid.

The World Health Organization also says that covid remains a public health emergency of international concern.

And Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said earlier this month that covid was still there.

“We have a virus out there that is still circulating and still killing hundreds of Americans a day,” Jha said at a news conference on Sept. 9. “I think as Americans we should all work together to try to protect Americans…and do what we can to get our health care system through a difficult fall and winter.”

About 65,000 new Covid cases were reported every day for the past two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University. And about 400 people die from the disease every day in the United States.

Biden acknowledged in the interview that it remains a “tough time.”

“I think you would agree that the impact of the pandemic on the psyche of the American people is profound. Think how that changed everything. You know, people’s attitudes about themselves, their families, about the state of the nation, about the state of their communities. And so there’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of uncertainty,” he said.

‘It has been a very difficult time. Very difficult,’ he remarked.

Republicans responded to his comments to back out of the White House’s request for $22.4 billion to fight the coronavirus pandemic with vaccines, tests and treatments.

With daily life quickly returning to normal, the funding request was already a tough sell.

Joe Biden asked Congress to pass $22 billion in new pandemic funding THIS WEEK because he said the pandemic was NOT over! Now that Biden says the pandemic is over, he must END the military COVID-vax mandate and STOP allowing young children to wear masks in Head Start!” Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller wrote on Twitter.

And Republican Rep. Andy Biggs said Biden should end federal mandates, writing, “Biden must immediately end his draconian mask and vaccine mandates for Americans.”

Biden’s statement raised questions about why federal mandates remain in effect, such as the requirement for members of the military to be vaccinated

Vaccine requirements also remain for healthcare facility personnel participating in Medicare and Medicaid

The White House states that covid cases could increase this fall and that without the additional funding, easy access to testing, vaccines and boosters may not be available. Beginning Sept. 2, Americans could no longer order free rapid home tests from the federal government.

There also remains the question of the federal mandates that Biden has ordered and whether they will remain in effect. The White House did not respond to DailyMail.com’s investigation into the mandates.

Federal mandates include:

• Vaccine Requirements for Healthcare Facility Personnel Participating in Medicare and Medicaid
• Biden also signed a vaccine mandate for federal workers, but that has been suspended pending a September hearing on his injunction
• Mandate for masks on public transport – including flights and subways – has been scrapped by courts, but Justice Department is appealing it
• The Pentagon requires all members of the military to be vaccinated
• Travelers to the United States must show proof of vaccination before entering the country

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have eased covid restrictions in recent months, such as shortening the quarantine period from 10 days to five.

The CDC also placed less emphasis on social distancing. The new guideline released in August dropped the “six feet” standard.

It’s unclear how Biden’s comment will affect state and local guidelines in areas like New York, where city officials have fired teachers for failing to meet vaccine requirements.