The Biden administration in the United States will lift the national emergency declaration on the 11th as the infection situation of the new coronavirus has stabilized.

Along with this, various measures that have continued due to the corona disaster, such as the need to present vaccination certificates, which were required for foreigners entering the country by air, will be lifted.

No need to show vaccination certificate for foreigners

The Biden administration in the United States will lift the national emergency declaration that has been in place for three years on the 3th.

The background is that the infection situation has stabilized, with the number of deaths due to the new coronavirus decreasing by 11% since its peak in January 2021, and more than 1% of the population has received at least one vaccination.

Along with this, various measures that have continued due to the corona disaster will be lifted, and it will not be necessary to present a vaccination certificate that was required for foreigners, including Japan people entering the country by air.

In addition, vaccination mandates for federal government employees and others will end, free distribution of new coronavirus test kits will end, and the obligation of each state and municipality to report the infection status to the country will be eliminated.

However, some experts and others have voiced concerns that the elimination of the obligation to distribute test kits and report them will delay the identification and response in the event of another outbreak.

Approximately 99% of infections in the United States are classified as "low"

According to the US CDC = Centers for Disease Control, the peak of the number of infected people in the United States was around January last year, with an average of more than 1,80 per day, and the peak of the number of deaths was around January, with an average of more than 1,3000 per day.

The number of newly reported infections and deaths has been generally decreasing since January, and as of May 1, the number of infected people is about 5,3 per day and the number of deaths is about 1 per day.

However, the exact number of infected people is not known because it is not reported if you check it yourself with easily available test kits these days.

The CDC has announced that the infection status of the new coronavirus in the United States is classified into three levels of "low", "moderate", and "high" depending on the region, but as of May 1000, the majority of the United States, about 160% of the regions, are classified as "low".

Working from home has taken root, the number of subways has decreased, and restaurants are also conspicuously empty.

In the United States, many companies seem to continue working from home or working three days a week even after the infection situation of the new corona has stabilized, and changes in work styles are affecting various places.

New York State Transportation Authority is planning to reduce the number of subway lines used by citizens as a means of commuting from June, saying that Mondays and Fridays will have fewer passengers than the three days from Tuesday to Thursday due to changes in work styles.

In addition, restaurants in the center of Manhattan, New York, have returned to almost the same level of customers as before Corona from Tuesday to Thursday, but Monday and Friday are about half of what they were before Corona, and they have not yet recovered.

When I visited the restaurant on Friday evening, which was full before Corona, there were conspicuous empty seats in the restaurant. This means that the store is responding by reducing the number of employees and purchases.

The owner of the restaurant said, "In the past, Fridays were busy for lunch, and many people finished their work early in the evening, so we need to adapt to the changed business environment."

Town halls also introduced three days off per week in earnest

In Prospect Park, a town of about 6000,2 people in the eastern state of New Jersey in the United States, this February began a three-day work week, with the town hall office open Monday to Thursday and Friday off.

Instead, we are extending working hours from Monday to Thursday and allowing some staff to stay at home on Fridays to ensure that resident services are not reduced.

When this local government introduced a three-day work week on a trial basis during the spread of the new corona infection, it was found that it could be fully handled, so it decided to introduce it in earnest.

One of the staff said, "It's great to be able to pick up my grandson from kindergarten and spend more time with my family."

The person in charge of the local government said, "In introducing the three-day work week, we thought about what we could do from the perspective of maintaining the health, happiness, and employment of our employees, and we learned from the coronavirus that local governments must change from the current situation."