America is ending its emergency declaration for the pandemic

Many services that Americans have come to rely on are about to wind down

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 1: A pharmacist works while wearing personal protective equipment in the Elmhurst neighborhood on April 1, 2020 in New York City. With more than 75,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,000 deaths, New York City has become the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

May 4th 2023|Washington, DC

After years of turmoil, America’s covid-19 emergency is formally coming to a close. More than 1.1m Americans died from covid-related causes during the pandemic (in January 2021 weekly deaths were close to 24,000). Now reported deaths are down by over 95% from their peak. And so on May 11th the Biden administration will end the public-health emergency declaration, first issued under President Donald Trump. It enabled the federal government to cut red tape for government programmes and provide urgently needed funds. A programme that allowed FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to pay for extraordinary expenses will also end that day. It is a symbolic moment, but also one with real consequences.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Bye-bye covid”