"The national emergency proclaimed by President Trump on March 13, 2020, quietly came to a conclusion after 1,124 days, with a Monday evening notice from the White House announcing that Biden had signed a resolution putting the emergency to an end. A parallel health emergency is slated to end next month, cutting off federal funding for some public health measures, including the cost of diagnostic tests and vaccines. “People will have to start paying some money for things they didn’t have to pay for during the emergency.”

"Next month will also see the dissolution of the White House pandemic response team, which used to brief reporters several times each week. There has been no briefing for months. Dr. Anthony Fauci, once the president’s top pandemic adviser, is now retired.

New restrictions will be imposed on telehealth, a practice that exploded at the start of the pandemic."

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"Not that the pandemic is really over, with about 120,000 people across the United States contracting the coronavirus each week and about 1,700 dying weekly from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'We need to be very clear that just because the national emergency around COVID is coming to an end, that doesn't mean that COVID is no longer an ongoing threat.'”

"Some public health officials charge that the Biden administration ceased to take the coronavirus seriously once the cost of doing so became too great. They warn against excessive confidence about what the future may hold. Then there are the millions who suffer from a debilitating, little-understood set of symptoms known as long COVID, which looms as a public health challenge of its own.

“'The need for active management of the virus continues. Many thought the pandemic was over in the spring of 2021,' said Boston University public health professor Julia Raifman. 'Unfortunately, we were not prepared for new variants, and we lost hundreds of thousands of lives in the following months. By actively tracking COVID, continuing the work to help people get vaccinated and boosted, and having policies and supplies in place to address new variants, we can help ensure we do not see such a high preventable toll again.'”

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"That being said, as of early April, COVID has killed more than 1.1 million people in the US, and it continues to kill about 250 people a day, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The end of the national emergency and the upcoming end of the public health emergency do not negate the fact that COVID is still prevalent and impacting many. While COVID guidelines have been relaxed for quite some time, it's important to evaluate your own health risks and conditions (as well as those around you) when it comes to protecting yourself and others from the virus."

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Even the most cautious of Democratic governors had dropped pandemic-related restrictions near the start of 2022, sensing a shift in the public’s mood that could have electoral consequences.

Biden’s decision to sign H.J.Res. 7, shows he no longer considers the coronavirus to be the threat it once was, and he’s bringing the country along with him – ready or not.

It’s an early ending to the declaration and a sign that Biden – likely with the 2024 presidential election in mind – is more willing to bend to Republicans on certain issues. Previously, the Biden administration stated that it “strongly” opposed the measure.