COVID-19 may never leave us entirely, but the White House took official steps last week to ramp down much of the preventative guidance it had put in place while the pandemic was raging in 2020 and 2021.
The White House on Friday revoked three COVID-related executive orders and disbanded the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force which oversaw Federal agencies’ safety operations in response to the pandemic.
President Biden signed the executive order (EO) on Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask Wearing on January 20, 2021, when the country saw its highest spike in COVID-related deaths throughout the entire pandemic – nearly 120,000 that month, according to CDC data.
Prior to its winding up, the task force provided ongoing guidance to heads of agencies on the operation of the Federal government, the safety of its employees, and the continuity of government functions during the administration’s response to the pandemic.
The task force oversaw the Federal workforce’s masking and vaccination requirements, as well as collecting workplace safety plans from each agency.
The last guidance the task force provided Federal agencies on mask-wearing was in August 2022, when the mask mandate for Feds was dropped unless COVID community levels were deemed high by the CDC.
“The Administration has determined that the Task Force is no longer necessary as the country has transitioned from an emergency response to a longer-term response to COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness in general,” the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wrote in an April 12 memo announcing the end of the EO.
“In addition, the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR) … is playing a critical role in the Federal Government’s pandemic preparedness efforts, including by providing advice, within the Executive Office of the President, on policy related to preparedness for, and response to, pandemic and biological threats that may impact national security,” OMB said.
Agencies will still be required to maintain, update, and implement workplace safety plans, and notify OMB if they plan to make any major changes, the agency said.
The task force also provided instruction on Federal employees’ use of leave in connection with the COVID emergency. Going forward, OMB said the Office of Personnel Management will assume the role of providing agencies with guidance on the use of leave in various circumstances related to COVID and other public health emergencies.
Biden also revoked two additional COVID-related EOs on April 12: Preventing Hoarding of Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19; and Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel.
Responsibilities and duties of the Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response and Counselor to the President were transferred to the head of the OPPR, and the positions of COVID-19 Response Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response have been terminated.
According to the CDC, both COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. have been on a downward trend for three months. In the last week, COVID-related hospitalizations have capped at just over 7,000 and deaths at 266.
During its largest peak in January 2021, COVID deaths reached nearly 26,000 each week in the U.S.
