President Biden to extend COVID-19 "national emergency" status

By maryvillarealdw // 2022-02-24

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President Joe Biden announced that he will be extending the "national emergency" status that former President Donald Trump declared in March 2020 due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden said that there remains a need to continue the national emergency, noting that over 900,000 people have perished from the disease and that it is essential to continue to combat and respond to it with the full capacity and capability of the federal government. "The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the Nation. For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020, and beginning March 1, 2020, must continue in effect beyond March 1, 2022," Biden said in a statement released by the White House. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people age 65 and older represent nearly 75 percent of all COVID-related deaths from the beginning of the outbreak through February 13, 2022. The CDC also reported that 95 percent of the COVID deaths listed other conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. The emergency status of the pandemic would have been automatically terminated on March 1 unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary of its declaration, the president sent a notice to Congress stating it is to continue beyond its anniversary date. The decision came even as a wave of coronavirus cases receded in the U.S., leading to many states and localities easing their pandemic restrictions. (Related: Government instilled fear in people to make them wear masks during COVID pandemic.)

Some states already dropping mask and vaccine mandates

Biden's move is at odds with the decision of some of his allies to start repealing mask and vaccine mandates. The state of New York already dropped its mask and vaccine mandates for most businesses on February 10, although they remain in schools, prisons, daycare centers and medical facilities. New York's state health commissioner also confirmed that the booster shot mandate for healthcare workers will no longer be enforced. This decision was made in response to the fact that many workers refused the boosters, making it impossible for the state's healthcare system to function normally with the requirement in place. Democrat-run cities Philadelphia, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Boston, which attempted to implement vaccine passport systems, withdrew them in less than 60 days. Republican Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas suggested that the national emergency extension is being used to push the liberal agenda. In a tweet, he said that Biden can't give up his authoritarian chokehold, adding that "he needs an excuse for unsolicited mail-in ballots for upcoming midterm elections to justify his reckless and irresponsible spending of your children’s and grandchildren's future." (Related: Wheels of freedom: American truckers set to launch People's Convoy against Biden's tyrannical COVID mandates.) Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, meanwhile, introduced legislation to revoke the president's power under the National Emergencies Act. Marshall, who is also a medical doctor, said that there needs to be a new approach to the disease as people learn to live with the virus.

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Some states already dropping mask and vaccine mandates

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