Biden Extends US National Emergency Status For COVID-19

United States President Joe Biden. (Wikimedia Commons/The White House)

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden on Friday said the United States' national COVID-19 emergency status set in March 2020 would be extended beyond March 1 due to the continuing risks to public health.

"This national emergency status still needs to be continued", Biden said in a letter to the chairman of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Senate on Friday quoted from Antara, Saturday. The letter was released by the White House.

The state of emergency will be automatically removed unless, within 90 days before the anniversary date of the designation, the president sends notice to Congress that the state of emergency will continue beyond the date of designation.

Biden said the deaths of more than 900,000 Americans from COVID-19 underscores the need to tackle the pandemic at the federal government's "full capacity".

Former President Donald Trump declared a national emergency nearly two years ago to release 50 billion in federal aid.

Biden's move to extend the state of emergency comes even as local leaders in the US are lifting COVID-19 restrictions as the Omicron tide recedes.

The governors of New York and Massachusetts announced last week that they would end certain obligations to wear masks in the states they govern.

Such easing of rules follows similar measures already implemented in the states of New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon.

US health officials earlier this week said they were preparing for the next stage of the pandemic as Omicron cases eased.