Joe Biden was criticised by one of America’s top epidemiologists after the president prematurely declared that the Covid-19 pandemic "is over", even as the US continues to grapple with coronavirus infections.
In an interview with CBS News which aired on Sunday, Mr Biden was asked if the return of the auto show in Michigan, which was attended by the 46th president, meant that the pandemic has come to a close.
Mr Biden replied saying: "The pandemic is over."
The president acknowledged that Covid is still “a problem”, adding that his administration is still “doing a lot of work on it".
“If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing,” the president added.
Eric Feigl-Ding warned that the pandemic is far from over with almost 3,000 Americans dying from the coronavirus every single week.
"Heck no. With all due respect, Joe Biden - you are wrong, Pandemic is not over (sic)," he wrote on Twitter.
"A weekly 9/11 is a very big deal," he said, referring to the 2001 terror attacks in the US that killed nearly 3,000 people.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 400 people continue to die each day from the virus in the US.
He added: “Don’t even get me started on long Covid wreaking havoc on millions more."
The chief of Covid taskforce at the New England Complex Systems Institute said he hoped “every democratic member of Congress” will join him in questioning the administration on this.
“Tell Joe Biden — don’t revoke Covid-19’s status as a public health emergency.”
Last week the World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the end of the pandemic “is in sight” even though we are “not there yet”.
With over 1 million deaths in 2022 alone, the pandemic still remains an emergency globally and within most countries.
Since its onset in 2020 March in China, the pandemic has killed 6.5 million people and infected 606 million, according to official data.
The health expert continued: “Dammit people… we have seen the ‘it’s over’ dismissive nonsense before. Remember in May 2021 when CDC dropped the mask mandate?
“Remember how many died in the subsequent August-September 2021 Delta Variant wave and then the December-February first Omicron wave?”
Dr Feigl-Ding argued that the president relying on his on CDC “normally is okay, but the pandemic has shown the CDC has always been behind the science and slow to act”.
“Mark my words—this winter, Covid will be roaring back!”
The president spent more than two weeks isolated in the White House after being infected with Covid twice, starting in July.
