US President Joe Biden has just declared the COVID-19 pandemic “over”.
A quick look at the World Health Organisation’s pandemic dashboard shows that our global daily cases is just under 300,000, but hey, there’s no harm trying to speak things into existence.
Biden Shared Sentiments on COVID-19 In an Interview
In CBS’ 60 Minutes interview with President Joe Biden, he shared his belief that the pandemic has come to an end, but acknowledged that it is still a “problem” that the US is actively dealing with.
“The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it…but the pandemic is over,” the president said
Currently, the COVID-19 virus is still constituted as a Public Health Emergency in the US, and the WHO still holds that it remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
These new sentiments from the head of state has served as a glimmer of hope for citizens, and echoed similar comments that other global health leaders have made in recent weeks.
The WHO Shares Similar Views
Just last week, the WHO Chief stated that the end of the COVID-19 Pandemic is “in sight”, which meant that while the rate of new cases were slowing down, we should not let our guards down yet.
“We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic. We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He also urged the world to seize the opportunity, otherwise we might run the risk of more variants, more casualties, disruption, and further uncertainty.
WHO’s epidemiological report on COVID-19 had stated that the number of reported cases has fallen by 28% to 3.1 million in the first full week of September (5 to 11 Sep).
There was also a 12% drop the week prior.
Within the US, there were about 65,000 new cases over a fortnight period, according to data from John Hopkins University. However, researchers noted that daily reported cases were dropping steadily across the country.
Although official case counts will also be not fully representative of the actual levels of community infection, the CDC has noted that current projections see that new COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths will likely plateau in the following month.
COVID-19 patients who have been hospitalised as a result of the illness are also experiencing an all time low in risk of death since the Omicron wave, according to a study published by the CDC a week ago.
Several factors were highlighted for this observation, including stronger immunities from vaccinations or prior covid-19 infections, more advanced treatments, and reduce disease-spreading properties in Omnicron subvariants.
Biden on The Possibility of Running Again in 2024
In the interview which aired over the weekend, President Biden shared during the 60 Minutes interview that he has yet to make a “firm decision” on whether or not he would run for reelection in 2024.
As of now, however, he has shared his intentions to run again.
“Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen,” Biden said.
“I’m a great respecter of fate,” he went on.
“And so, what I’m doing is I’m doing my job. I’m gonna do that job. And within the time frame that makes sense after this next election cycle here, going into next year, make a judgment on what to do.”
While administration officials have also maintained that the president will be running in 2024, Biden has told ABC in an interview late last year that this would be contingent on his own health being in good condition.
He will be turning 80 this November.
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Featured Image: Naresh777 / shutterstock.com
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