Biden Announces End of COVID-19 Pandemic, a Week After WHO Said Global Outbreak's Edge is Near

"The pandemic is over" according to US President Joe Biden during an interview by Scott Pelley in the program "60 Minutes" on CBS News.

Reports emerged on Tuesday, September 20, that President Biden acknowledged that the country is still dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak but affirmed that the pandemic is already a thing of the past.

The so-called self-made declaration received a mixture of public reactions.

Biden's announcement came a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the end of the COVID-19 global outbreak is already "in sight."

The public sentiments came as active cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus disease continue to drop worldwide since 2020.

This is made possible due to the continued development and dissemination of vaccines against COVID-19 and its variants.

However, multiple reports suggested that the COVID-19 global outbreak is not yet completely over.

As a result, many are considering that declaring the pandemic is non-existent could jeopardize existing governmental efforts of the US, mainly towards containing the spread of the viral disease.

It could also affect measures by government and health authorities worldwide when it comes to stopping vaccinations and restrictions.

COVID-19 Pandemic is Over

President Joe Biden — Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Despite the declaration, Biden told Pelley there are still work to do while walking around the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday, September 18, as cited by CNN.

The US lresident remarked that one could apparently notice no one is no longer wearing masks and that everybody is in pretty good shape.

In August, the US government extended the status of COVID-19 as a "public health emergency" until October 13.

The emergency declaration has been extended several times since January 2020.

Also Read: Study Suggest That the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Caused a Massive Disruption to Agriculture in India

WHO Declaration

Last week, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never reached a better position to end the pandemic, clarifying that while were are still not there but its end draws near in the future, as cited by the BBC.

Biden's Chief Medical Adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, explained what the president was thinking when he announced the optimistic statement.

On Monday, September 19, noted that while the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over, it still remains a concern, as cited by Fox News.

Novel Coronavirus Disease

In late 2019, a mysterious pathogen called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes COVID-19, emerged as an unusual illness.

In early 2020, related respiratory symptoms from the disease spread from China and other countries in Asia, Europe, and North America.

The spread prompted the WHO to declare COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020.

The succeeding months led to a series of restrictions to businesses, travel, and almost all facet of daily life, as respective governments worldwide aimed to prevent or contain the spread of the viral infection.

Despite the progress we made against the pandemic, the WHO still retains the following are the most common symptoms of COVID-19: