Republicans in Congress have asked President Biden to end the designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency (PHE), citing the accessibility of vaccines and effective treatments as well as the harms of long-term isolation on public health.
Their request for the president to undo the designation comes as calls grow — including from former Biden advisers — for the federal government to chart a course for the next stage of the pandemic. Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have plunged after the dramatic omicron-driven surge, and deaths have begun falling as well, though the seven-day average was still 2,300 deaths per day, as of Thursday.
"We're moving toward a time when COVID won't disrupt our daily lives, a time when COVID won't be a constant crisis but rather will be something we can protect against and treat," Jeffrey Zients, the White House COVID response coordinator, said in a briefing on Wednesday.
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:
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