Biden extends state of Emergency in US amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has announced his decision to extend the state of emergency, which was declared in the country almost two years ago, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has been causing significant risk to the public health.

"The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the Nation. For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 13, 2020, and beginning March 1, 2020, must continue in effect beyond March 1, 2022," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

The president also stressed the need to combat and respond to COVID-19 with the full capacity of the federal government.

The United States remains the world's second worst-hit country in terms of confirmed cases. According to the latest data from the US Health Ministry, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has exceeded 80 million. Over 51 million have recovered, and 958,300 have died.