�������ýҕ�l

Republicans in Congress have asked President Biden to end the designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency (PHE), citing the accessibility of vaccines and effective treatments as well as the harms of long-term isolation on public health. Their request for the president to undo the designation comes as calls grow — including from former Biden advisers — for the federal government to chart a course for the next stage of the pandemic. Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have plunged after the dramatic omicron-driven surge, and deaths have begun falling as well, though the seven-day average was still 2,300 deaths per day, as of Thursday. (Wise, 2/14)

President Biden responded to American frustration with pandemic restrictions, saying that it was still too soon to lift indoor mask mandates, while suggesting that other restrictions may soon be able to end. In the roughly 22-minute interview, some of which was previewed before Sunday, Mr. Biden said that the decision by some state governors last week to begin lifting indoor mask mandates was “probably premature,” but acknowledged that making that decision was a “tough call.” (Cameron, 2/14)

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says he can imagine a future where Americans don’t have to contend with mask requirements. But pulling back safeguards too quickly, Murthy warns, risks more avoidable suffering, especially for people with weakened immune systems or other vulnerabilities. In an interview this week with The Associated Press, Murthy also shared his concerns about the pandemic’s impact on the mental wellbeing of youth. He’s the father of two young children. Growing up, he witnessed the toll of unresolved mental health problems. (Powell, 2/11)

When President Biden first announced plans to ship 500 million free coronavirus tests to Americans, the move was largely lauded. But some public health experts and community activists say the plan’s limit of four tests per household will force the tens of millions of Americans who live in multigenerational homes to make difficult — and risky — decisions about who gets to use them. An estimated 64 million Americans live in multigenerational households, according to the most recent data available, a disproportionate number of them people of color and many of them working in essential jobs in cities and communities where the pandemic has hit hardest. (Foster-Frau, 2/12)

Maybe it was because Kerri Raissian’s father had spent time in two hospitals and a nursing facility during the last 12 days of his life. Or maybe it was because he had been in the emergency room for only a few hours before he died. Either way, Covid-19 was not listed on his death certificate. Ms. Raissian has spent the last month trying to change that. At stake are thousands of dollars from a program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency meant to ease the financial burden on grieving families that lost loved ones to the pandemic. The government will reimburse up to $9,000 in funeral expenses for people who die from the coronavirus — as long as there is proper documentation. (Bernard, 2/11)