<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">President Joe Biden has declared the pandemic over in the US, even as the number of Americans who have died from Covid continues to rise.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Biden said that while "we still have a problem", the situation is rapidly improving.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Statistics show that over 400 Americans on average are dying from the virus each day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that the end of the pandemic is "in sight".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In an interview with CBS programme 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, Mr Biden said that the US is still doing "a lot of work" to control the virus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The interview - aired over the weekend - was partly filmed on the floor of the Detroit Auto Show, where the president gestured towards the crowds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If you notice, no-one's wearing masks," he said. "Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape... I think it's changing."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But administration officials told US media on Monday that the comments did not signal a change in policy and there were no plans to lift the ongoing Covid-19 public health emergency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In August, US officials extended the public health emergency, which has been in place since January 2020, through to 13 October.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To date, more than one million Americans have died with the coronavirus disease.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the seven-day average of deaths currently stands at over 400, with more than 3,000 dead in the past week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In January 2021, by comparison, more than 23,000 people were reported dead with the virus over a single week-long span. About 65% of the total US population is considered fully vaccinated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Certain federal vaccine mandates remain in place in the US - including on healthcare workers, military personnel and some non-US citizens entering the country by airplane.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Top Republicans criticised the president's remarks, with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeting: "Biden now says 'the pandemic is over' as he's kicking tens of thousands of healthy soldiers out of the military with his COVID vaccine mandate."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Public health officials have expressed cautious optimism in recent weeks that the world is edging towards a pandemic recovery, but continue to urge people to be careful.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Monday, Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged the situation had improved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in comments made at a Washington DC think tank, he said the daily death rate remained "unacceptably high".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are not where we need to be if we're going to be able to 'live with the virus,'" Dr Fauci said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also cautioned that new Covid-19 variants could still emerge, especially in the coming winter months.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The US recently authorised new vaccines that match the version of the Omicron variant currently dominant in the country, with federal health officials asking Americans to keep their jabs up-to-date.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the world has "never been in a better position to end the pandemic".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are not there yet," he said. "But the end is in sight."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Covid-19 also continues to have a significant impact on the US economy, with the National Bureau of Economic Research reporting last week that Covid-related disease had slashed the US workforce by about 500,000 people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Biden said he believes that the pandemic has had a "profound" impact on the psyche of Americans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"That has changed everything... people's attitudes about themselves, their families, about the state of the nation, about the state of their communities," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's been a very difficult time. Very difficult."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 6.5 million people have died since the beginning of the pandemic around the world. The US has had the highest death toll, followed by India and Brazil. Source: BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>