‘Pandemic is over,’ says Biden, as hundreds in US die daily from COVID-19 – National

US President Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that « the pandemic is over » even as the country continues to battle coronavirus infections that kill hundreds of Americans daily.

« The pandemic is over, » Biden said during an interview with CBS’s « 60 Minutes » Wednesday on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, an event that drew thousands of visitors.

“We still have a problem with COVID. We are still working on it a lot. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one is wearing a mask. Everyone seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think that’s changing.

The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has fallen dramatically since Biden’s term began, when more than 3,000 Americans a day were dying, as improved care, drugs and vaccines became more widely available.

But nearly 400 people a day continue to die from COVID-19 in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Biden spent more than two weeks in isolation at the White House after two bouts with COVID-19, beginning in July. His wife Jill contracted the virus in August. Biden said the mild cases testified to improvements in care during his presidency.

Biden has asked Congress for $22.4 billion in additional funding to prepare for a possible surge in cases in the fall.