Biden says ‘the epidemic is over’, but health experts disagree.

In a wide-ranging interview on the season premiere of “60 Minutes” Sunday night, President Biden surprised many health experts by declaring that the “epidemic is over.”

When responding to a question from a CBS reporter Scott Pelley“We still have a problem with Covid,” Biden said. We are still working on it. It is – but the epidemic is over. If you notice, no one is wearing a mask. Everyone seems to be doing well. And I think it’s changing. (Here Transcript of the interview.)

Many health care professionals fired back at the president’s assessment.

Emergency physician and researcher Esther Chu wrote Twitter, “The epidemic is not over, and the move undermines its ability to *ever* end.” Just last week, she wrote for MSNBC, “The epidemic is progressing exponentially.”

While Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations are below last summer’s highs, the virus is taking its toll.

After Biden’s interview was released, Eric Topol, a physician, author and professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research; he said. “I wish this was true. It’s a thing of the past,” he tweeted. @POTUSThey are interested in magical thinking and getting ahead of our government on new bivalent incentives.

Topol added that Biden’s statement ignores reality. Long covidthe potential for new variants and “our current ability to contain infection and transmission.”

Gavin Yami, director of global health and public policy at Duke University, disagreed with the president A piece b time Magazine. The headline: “Biden is wrong, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over.” Yame the epidemic will end, but we are not at the finish line.

“The main problem with the president saying the epidemic is ‘over’ is that it could derail our efforts to reach a low level of transmission,” Yami wrote. “For example, if the epidemic is ‘over’, Congress is less likely to renew funding for Covid-19 measures.

Hospitals have been pleading with Biden and Congress to approve more federal aid. He said the recognition of federal aid helped hospitals contain the outbreak, and did not receive aid for Covid-19 patients infected with the delta and omicron variants.

American Hospital Association President Rick Pollack urged the president and lawmakers to support America’s hospitals. More than half of US hospitals could end 2022 with negative margins as hospitals lose billions, the AHA said in a report released last week. Hospitals and health systems are also concerned about continuing to provide key services TelehealthAssociated with the public health emergency of COVID-19.

In a media call last week, Pollack pointed out that the fight against Covid-19 is not over. Hospitals continue to treat Covid-19 patients, with many patients who delayed care during the outbreak now requiring longer hospital stays.

Hundreds of people are dying every day due to Covid-19 (7-day average is 410). The Washington Post reports). The 7-day average for Covid-19 hospitalizations is just over 24,000. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jorge Caballero, who founded Coders Against COVID, a collaborative to address data gaps in the pandemic; Twitter He feared that saying ‘the epidemic is over’ would directly lead to preventable disease and death.

The Biden administration has sought to clarify its message about the pandemic.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Sarah Lovenheim reiterated that on Monday. The public health emergency of COVID-19 is still ongoing..

“HHS will provide states with 60-day notice prior to any termination or termination,” Lovenheim tweeted. “As we have done in the past, we will continue to rely on science to determine the length of PHE.”

Anthony S. FauciAccording to the Federal Government’s Chief Infectious Diseases Expert. The Washington Post“We still have a lot of work to do to get it down to a lower level and we feel comfortable with it.”

“I’m not comfortable with 400 deaths a day,” Fauci said in an interview.