WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview that “the pandemic is over,” even though the country continues to grapple with coronavirus infections that kill hundreds of Americans daily.
“The pandemic is over,” Biden said during an interview conducted with CBS’ “60 Minutes” program on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, an event which drew thousands of visitors.
“We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lotta work on it. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing.”
The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished significantly since early in Biden’s term when more than 3,000 Americans per day were dying, but nearly 400 people a day continue to die from COVID-19 in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Biden spent more than two weeks isolated in the White House after two bouts with COVID-19, starting in July. His wife Jill contracted the virus in August. Biden has said the mild cases were a testament to the improvements in care during his presidency.
Biden has asked Congress for $22.4 billion more in funding to prepare for a potential fall case surge.
While Biden’s comments were extemporaneous, they may complicate his administration’s so far unsuccessful efforts to secure additional funding from Congress for more coronavirus vaccines and treatments and to take other steps intended to combat the virus, the Wall Street Journal wrote.
Republicans on Sunday night raised questions about why the administration would renew its ongoing public health emergency if the pandemic is over.
Biden’s comment that the pandemic is over came as a surprise to administration officials, according to two senior health officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
The administration for months has maintained that the virus is on the retreat. Nevertheless, the disease continues to exact a toll, with more than 30,000 people hospitalized and more than 400 dying each day, according to seven-day averages compiled by The Washington Post.
“We have a virus out there that’s still circulating, still killing hundreds of Americans every day,” Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said at a news briefing Sept. 6, warning that the emergence of new variants could pose additional risks. “I think we all as Americans have to pull together to try to protect Americans … and do what we can to get our health-care system through what might be a difficult fall and winter ahead.”
The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that the pandemic was not over and that important work remains to combat it around the world.
“We are not there yet but the end is in sight,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO. “We can see the finish line, but now is the worst time to stop running.”
In the “60 Minutes” interview, Biden said the pandemic continues to exact a deep psychological toll.
“I think you’d agree that the impact on the psyche of the American people as a consequence of the pandemic is profound,” the president said. “Think of how that has changed everything … people’s attitudes about themselves, their families, about the state of the nation, about the state of their communities.”