As US officials brace for a potential surge of infections over the winter, the Biden administration on Thursday extended the Covid-19 public health emergency for another 90 days- through Jan. 11.
Officials made the decision despite the drop in daily deaths and infections numbers and the fading of the pandemic from the forefront of the mind of many people who are returning to schools, work, and grocery stores as normal, many of them maskless.
The US, however, continues to see more than 300 people dying due to Covid each day.
Pointing out that the extent of any surge depends on the precautions people take and the vaccination rates, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha urged Americans again to get the updated variant-specific COVID-19 vaccine, emphasizing that they push close to zero the risk of dying from COVID if people have a breakthrough infection.
Jha pointed out that not just the administration, but also Congress and the American people must do their part in doing everything they can to stay ahead of the virus.
First declared in January 2020, the public health emergency has been renewed every 90 days since and has dramatically changed the delivery of health services.
After initially helping treatments and vaccines to get approved at breakneck speed and enabling the administration to ensure citizens did not have to pay for them, the latest extension also ensures the continuance of policies like expanded Medicaid benefits, telehealth coverage, and extra payments to hospitals and doctors.
Meanwhile, the GOP congressmen have been pressing the administration to end the public health emergency, arguing there is no more justification for it to continue, and the federal government stopped mailing free COVID-19 tests last month after it had run out of money.
Be the first to comment