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Biden during the corona vaccination (in March 2022)
Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP
US President Joe Biden wants to lift far-reaching corona emergency regulations in May.
They were introduced in 2020 by then US President Donald Trump in response to the pandemic and extended several times by Biden.
The administration informed the US Congress on Monday in Washington that Biden would briefly extend both the national emergency and the public health emergency one last time and then end on May 11th.
The emergency regulations enable the US government, for example, to provide the states with additional funds to protect the health of the population and to coordinate crisis management.
With the lifting of the emergency regulations, the US government is returning its powers;
most aid payments also end then.
The time until May should now be used for an orderly transition.
"An abrupt end to the emergency declarations would result in widespread chaos and insecurity throughout the healthcare system -- for the states, for hospitals and doctor's offices, and most importantly, for millions of Americans," the statement said.
The government is responding to two bills in the House of Representatives that were introduced by Republicans.
They demand that the emergency regulations end immediately, partly because they cost the state a lot of money.
phw/dpa