Current:Home > ScamsJoe Biden says the COVID-19 pandemic is over. This is what the data tells us-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Joe Biden says the COVID-19 pandemic is over. This is what the data tells us
View Date:2024-12-23 18:35:15
President Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past.
"The pandemic is over," he said. "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 [the Detroit auto show resuming after three years] is a perfect example of it."
His remarks came as Biden's own administration seeks an additional $22.4 billion from Congress to keep funding the fight against COVID, and as the United States continues to see hundreds of related deaths every day.
So are we really in the clear?
The National Institutes of Health defines the term as "an epidemic of disease, or other health condition, that occurs over a widespread area (multiple countries or continents) and usually affects a sizable part of the population."
Globally, there have been about 612 million cases of coronavirus. The number of new daily cases peaked in January for many countries, including the U.S. (806,987), France (366,554) and India (311,982), according to Our World in Data, an international organization of scientists.
We've come a long way since then — on Saturday, there were about 493,000 cases worldwide — but there are still thousands of cases being detected every day, and many estimates could be off, as many cases are going unreported.
From Aug. 16 to Sept. 17, there were 19.4 million new cases worldwide, with some of the most significant increases happening in Japan (29%), Taiwan (20%) and Hong Kong (19%). The U.S. had a 3% increase in cases during that time period, equivalent to 2.5 million incidents.
In Japan, there is a daily cap on the number of people who can arrive in the country and individual tourist visits have been banned, though those guidelines are expected to be reversed soon. Additionally, on Sep. 7, the country lifted its requirement to take a test within 72 hours of landing in Japan, as long as you are vaccinated, according to Nikkei.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also eased up on COVID-19 restrictions, such as issuing the same guidance to both vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans and shortening the quarantine period from 10 days to five. Though, it has not publicly declared the end of the pandemic.
Public health experts weren't impressed with the president's language. Dr. Megan Ranney, who heads Brown University's school of public health, used one of Biden's favorite words against him, calling the idea that the pandemic is over "malarkey."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden's top medical adviser and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview Monday that "We are not where we need to be if we're going to be able to, quote, 'live with the virus,' because we know we're not going to eradicate it."
He added he expects to see many more variants arise.
"How we respond and how we're prepared for the evolution of these variants is going to depend on us and that gets to the other conflicting aspect of this — is the lack of a uniform acceptance of the interventions that are available to us in this country," he said.
veryGood! (73)
Related
- Judith Jamison, acclaimed Alvin Ailey American dancer and director, dead at 81
- Connie Britton Reveals Why She Skipped the Emmys at the Last Minute
- NFL divisional round playoff odds: Moneylines, point spreads, over/under
- Warriors vs. Mavericks game postponed following death of assistant coach Dejan Milojević
- Can I take on 2 separate jobs in the same company? Ask HR
- When is 'Reacher' Season 2 finale? Release date, cast, how to watch last episode of season
- Fans react to latest Karim Benzema transfer rumors. Could he join Premier League club?
- NY midwife who gave kids homeopathic pellets instead of vaccines fined $300K for falsifying records
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- Jordan Henderson set to move to Dutch club Ajax in blow to Saudi soccer league
Ranking
- Taylor Swift's Mom Andrea Gives Sweet Nod to Travis Kelce at Chiefs Game
- Police in Brazil arrest the alleged killer of a Manhattan art dealer
- Pennsylvania can’t stop young adults from openly carrying guns during emergencies, US court rules
- Asa Hutchinson's anti-Trump presidential campaign mocked by DNC
- Vogue Model Dynus Saxon Charged With Murder After Stabbing Attack
- Mississippi legislators consider incentives for a factory that would make EV batteries
- Reviewers Say These 21 Genius Products Actually Helped Them Solve Gross Problems
- Horoscopes Today, January 18, 2024
Recommendation
-
Britney Spears Reunites With Son Jayden Federline After His Move to Hawaii
-
Dua Lipa speaks out on Israel-Hamas war, says ceasefire in Gaza 'has to happen'
-
British leader Sunak urges Parliament’s upper house to swiftly pass Rwanda migration plan
-
After 604 days, Uvalde families finally have DOJ's long-awaited school shooting report
-
Ariana Grande's Brunette Hair Transformation Is a Callback to Her Roots
-
Barking dog leads to rescue of missing woman off trail in Hawaii
-
This week on Sunday Morning (January 21)
-
Florida man sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting officers in Jan. 6 Capitol riot