The Biden administration plans to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire in May, the White House said on Monday, a sign that federal officials believe the pandemic has moved into a new, less dire phase.

The White House wants to keep the emergency in place for several more months so hospitals, health providers and health officials can prepare for a host of changes that will come when it ends, officials said. Millions of Americans have received free Covid tests, treatments and vaccines during the pandemic, and not all of that will continue to be free once the emergency is declared over.

[We’ve been in a “new, less dire phase” ever since vaccinations were universally adopted and far less virulent mutations became the norm. It’s beyond ridiculous that the “emergency” is still in place, explicable only in Biden’s reluctance to let go of his power to rule by decree. There is no other explanation for a decision that an emergency will end *three months from now* other than no real emergency exists at all. — Ed]