Coronavirus Emergency Declarations Are Expected to End May 11

Saying that the US needs an orderly transition out of the coronavirus public health emergency, the Biden Administration is planning to allow two COVID-19-related emergency declarations to end after brief extensions.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Administration said that the COVID-19 national emergency set to expire on March 1 and the public health emergency set to end on April 11 both will be extended to May 11 and then allowed to expire. This would change the characterization of COVID from pandemic to endemic.

The statement said the brief extensions are intended to help hospitals, health providers, and health officials prepare and avoid “highly significant impacts” that would disrupt the US health system and government operations. The Administration criticized two COVID-related measures before Congress. One, H.R. 382 (known as the Pandemic Is Over Act), would immediately end the public health emergency and trigger changes such as charges for COVID tests and vaccines and eliminate the extra funding for states to ensure that vulnerable Americans maintain their Medicaid coverage. 

The second, H.J. Res. 7, would end the Title 42 policy at the border, which curtails the inflow of migrants because of COVID.