The U.S. announced last week that its emergency response to COVID-19 is officially over, but warned that the virus is still infecting people.

The United States ended its COVID-19 public health emergency on 11 May.

“This does not mean it’s over. This is just a new phase of managing it,” Dr. Becky Smith, infectious disease specialist and director of Duke Health News, told The Guardian.

The report, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said more than 1,000 people are dying of the virus each week in the U.S., compared to about 20,000 a week at the height of the outbreak. 

About 1.13 million Americans died from the virus and 6.1 million have been hospitalized. There are about 332 million Americans, which means the so-called “pandemic” killed .35 percent of the population.

The end to the emergency declaration does not dramatically alter everyday life for most Americans but will impact the out-of-pocket costs of treatment and testing equipment.

The World Health Organization announced last week that the COVID-19 global health emergency has ended as fewer people around the world are becoming seriously ill or dying from the virus.  

TRENDPOST: It is worth noting that President Joe Biden issued two orders last week: one that revokes COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers, and ending mandated vaccines for international air travel.

Biden wrote that the orders that were put in place in 2021 were needed “to advance the efficiency of Government services during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The White House bragged that 98 percent of federal employees took at least one jab after being threatened that they could lose their jobs if they didn’t roll up their sleeves. 

Once again, we find ourselves in the position where our “leaders” get to decide when to giveth or taketh away our freedoms.  (See “WHO ANNOUNCES 3-YEAR ‘EMERGENCY’ FOR COVID-19 HAS COME TO AN END” 9 May 2023, “COVID WAR CDC DIRECTOR ROCHELLE WALENSKY RESIGNS” 9 May 2023, and “WALENSKY FINALLY ADMITS COVID-19 VACCINES DON’T STOP THE SPREAD, INSISTS SHE DIDN’T MISLEAD PUBLIC” 25 Apr 2023.)

The federal government will still pay the bill (with taxpayer money) to provide COVID-19 vaccines and treatments that include Paxlovid. The U.S. has a stockpile of vaccines that have already been purchased from Big Pharma. The supply is expected to last through the summer.

The push for vaccines in the U.S. has dropped dramatically and just 17 percent of Americans are considered updated with their booster shots. Last July, the White House ordered 171 million COVID-19 booster shots for the omicron variant. Just 56 million of those shots have been administered, CNBC reported, citing the CDC.

“There are many, many doses still left. As you know, the booster uptake hasn’t been very good,” Jen Kates, senior vice president of KFF, a health policy research organization, told the station.