The United States is turning the page a little more on the coronavirus and especially on its consequences with its share of restrictions and aid. The state of health emergency, declared when the Covid-19 epidemic took over three years ago, will officially end on May 11, the White House announced on Monday.
Two declarations of state of emergency had been made in the country: one called “national” and another of “public health”. The end of these statutes, which came into effect in January 2020 under the presidency of Donald Trump, will lead to the end of federal subsidies for treatments against Covid-19, health insurance and other government assistance related to the pandemic.
Republicans want to speed up the timetable
In fact, part of the federal funds to help Americans during the pandemic have already dried up due to decisions by Congress. For the rest of the funds, these are the subject of bitter political discussions.
The calendar, however, is not to the taste of the Republicans. These elected officials who control the House of Representatives are thus preparing bills which would aim to end the statutes earlier: March 1 for the national emergency and April 11 for the public health emergency.
A hasty end to the state of emergency would have “very significant consequences for our nation’s health care system and government operations,” including “chaos and uncertainty in the health care system,” it said. for its part warned the White House. “Hospitals and nursing homes, which have grown accustomed to the flexibilities allowed by these states of emergency, will descend into chaos without the time needed to retrain their staff and establish a new billing system.”
An impact on immigration
Another reason given for a 60-day notice period is to give the government time to prepare for the impact of the lifting of emergency measures on immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the White House. A rule known as “Title 42”, currently in place to allow immediate removal of any illegal alien intercepted at the border, including potential asylum seekers, is thus only legal because of the urgency sanitary. Ending this status “precipitously” will lead to “a considerable additional influx of migrants. »
The White House says it wants to end “Title 42” and replace it with another legal mechanism to control the influx of would-be immigrants, but says it needs time to do so.