The administration of President Joe Biden said on Monday that COVID-19 emergency declarations would be lifted on May 11, nearly three years after the United States enacted stringent pandemic control measures to stop the disease’s spread.
2020 saw the implementation of the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) by then-President Donald Trump. The policies, which give millions of Americans access to free tests, immunisations, and treatments, have been regularly expanded by Biden.
The declarations, which were due to expire in the upcoming months, would be renewed until May 11 and then cancelled, according to a statement from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
‘This wind-down would align with the Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the PHE,’ OMB said in an administration policy statement.
The government has been paying for COVID-19 vaccines, some tests and certain treatments under the PHE declaration. When it expires, those costs will be transferred to private insurance and government health plans.
PHE’s expiration will also end directives, known as Title 42, that expel migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti caught crossing the US-Mexico border back to Mexico, OMB said.
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