Joe Biden at the White House on September 15
Photo: Getty Images / BBC News Brazil
The president Joe Biden declared the end of the pandemic in the United States, even as the number of Americans dying from Covid continues to rise.
“We’re still working hard, but the pandemic is over,” Biden said in a television interview.
Statistics show that an average of more than 400 Americans die from the disease each day.
In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired Sunday (9/18), Biden said the situation is improving quickly, although much work still needs to be done to control the coronavirus.
The interview was filmed in part inside the Detroit Auto Show concourse, an auto show where the President gestured at the crowd.
“When you notice that nobody is wearing masks,” he said.
“Everyone seems fine and in good shape… I think [a situação] it changes.”
On Monday (19/9), US government officials told the media that the President’s recent statements signaled no change in policy and that there were no plans to lift the country’s Covid19 public health emergency.
In August, the US authorities extended the public health emergency that had been in effect since January 2020 until October 13.
To date, more than a million Americans have died from Covid19.
Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the daily rolling average of deaths in the United States is currently over 400, with more than 3,000 deaths recorded last week alone.
In January 2021, more than 23,000 Americans died from infection with the coronavirus in a single week.
About 65% of the entire US population is considered fully vaccinated.
Some federal vaccination regulations remain in effect in the US including mandatory doses for healthcare professionals, military personnel and some nonUS citizens traveling to the country.
Some members of the opposition criticized the President’s statements. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter: “Biden now says ‘pandemic is over,’ but expels tens of thousands of healthy soldiers with Covid19 vaccine mandates from the military.”
Health workers prepare a dose of the CoronaVac vaccine in Indonesia
Photo: EPA/BBC News Brazil
Public health officials have expressed cautious optimism in recent weeks, understanding that the world is nearing a recovery from the pandemic, but continue to urge people to be cautious.
On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the situation has improved.
But in remarks at an event in Washington, DC, he said the daily death rate has remained “unacceptably high.”
“We’re still not where we need to be if we’re going to ‘live with the virus,'” Fauci said.
The expert also warned that new variants of the pathogen could appear, especially in the coming winter months.
The US recently approved new vaccines that are more protective against recent versions of the Omicron variant that are currently prevalent in the country. Federal health officials are urging Americans to keep their booster doses up to date.
Last week, World Health Organization (WHO) DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the world “has never been in a better position to end the pandemic”.
He also said that “the end of the pandemic is already in sight.”
“We’re not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said.
Covid19 continues to have a significant impact on the US economy. Last week, the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that the disease had reduced the country’s workforce by about half a million people.
Biden also believes the pandemic has had a “profound” impact on Americans’ mental wellbeing.
“The pandemic has changed people’s attitudes towards themselves, their families, the state of the nation, the state of communities…” he enumerated.
“It was a very difficult time,” he admitted.
To date, more than 6.5 million people have died from Covid worldwide since the pandemic began. The United States has the highest number of deaths, followed by India and Brazil.
This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional62967216
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