US President Joe Biden said in an interview aired Sunday that the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States is over.
With Covid restrictions largely eliminated in the country and travel having rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, the comments were reflective of the current status of much of US society.
"The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with Covid. We're still doing a lot of work on it..., but the pandemic is over," Biden told the CBS news program "60 Minutes" in an interview taped as he walked the floor of the Detroit Auto Show last week.
"If you notice, no one's wearing masks," Biden said, gesturing around the hall.
"Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it's changing."
The president's remarks, however, come only a few weeks after his administration asked Congress for billions of dollars in funding to maintain its testing and vaccine programs through a potential fall wave.
The toll of the pandemic has diminished significantly since early in Biden's term when more than 3,000 Americans per day were dying, as enhanced care, medications and vaccinations have become more widely available.
But nearly 400 people a day continue to die from Covid in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Biden spent more than two weeks isolated in the White House after two bouts with Covid-19, starting in July.
His wife Jill contracted the virus in August. Biden has said the mild cases were a testament to the improvements in care during his presidency.
