Joe Biden Says COVID-19 Pandemic 'Is Over' Amid Reports of 2 New Omicron Variants on the Rise

President Joe Biden said the COVID-19 pandemic is over but admitted that the U.S. still has a "problem" with the virus. Biden made the statements during his interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley at the White House that aired on Sunday.

The question sprung during the discussion on the president's visit to the Detroit Auto Show, where Biden celebrated his funding of new charging stations for electric vehicles. The annual car show, finally happening after a two-year pandemic hiatus, saw crowds with lax COVID-19 mask mandates.

"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. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it's changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it," the president told Pelley during the interview.

According to CNN, COVID-19 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for the World Health Organization (WHO), while the U.S. government still designates it a Public Health Emergency.

However, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said the number of weekly COVID-19-related deaths hit an all-time low last week since March 2020.

WHO Says End of COVID-19 Pandemic Already 'In Sight'

Last September 14, the WHO announced that the number of COVID-19-related deaths worldwide logged the lowest since March 2020.

"We are not there yet, but the end is in sight. Now is the worst time to stop running. Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap all the rewards of our hard work," Ghebreyesus told the press in a Geneva briefing.

Data shows that numbers globally dropped to 22% last week with 11,000 reported deaths. COVID cases also dived down by 28% following a trend of decline weeks ago, CBS News reported.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a more relaxed COVID-19 guideline last August. Quarantine protocols and social distancing measures were now reduced, with only severe COVID-19 cases still given the highest priority.

Although the WHO said that the BA.5 variant, the same variant that affected President Joe Biden last July, dominates 90% of the cases worldwide, there has been a slight decline of the subvariant in the U.S., and an elevation of a new one.

CDC: BA.5 Omicron Subvariant Declining, But New BA 4.6 Rising?

CDC data shows that nearly 85% of the COVID-19 cases in the past week involved the BA.5 Omicron subvariant. It is a 2% decline from 87% the week before. But despite the changes, experts are eyeing the rise of BA 4.6 and BA.2.75 variants. The former logs 10% of the cases and the latter 1% last week.

According to US News, booster shots targeting the Omicron variant are now available to the public. The Biden administration hoped the new shots would help lessen the COVID-19 surges expected in the fall and winter.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

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