Joe Biden Says the COVID-19 Pandemic Is ‘Over’ in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

U.S. President Joe Biden declared that he thinks the coronavirus pandemic is “over” in an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, which aired Sunday. “The pandemic is over,” he told host Scott Pelley. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.” The World Health Organization still classifies COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, with the U.S. recording an average of more than 400 deaths per day from the virus, according to data from The New York Times. But world leaders like Biden have been speaking increasingly optimistically about COVID-19, with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying last week that “we have never been in a better position to end the pandemic.” In his wide-ranging 60 Minutes appearance, held in Detroit, Biden also discussed his thoughts about running for re-election, saying that it was “much too early to make that kind of decision.” The president said he was “a great respecter of fate,” and it remained his intention to try for a second term. “But is it a firm decision that I run again?” he continued. “That remains to be seen.”