As COVID-19 cases fall across the U.S., President Joe Biden is making plans for how to move forward.
"For more than two years, COVID-19 has impacted every decision in our lives and the life of the nation," Mr. Biden said during his State of the Union address March 1. "And I know you're tired, frustrated and exhausted. But I also know this. Because of the progress we've made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines."
Mask mandates across the U.S. have been lifted in most situations, per the CDC's recent guidelines and state-level policies. He said the country will not accept "living with COVID" and instead laid out four steps to move forward:
1. Continue vaccination efforts and develop more pharmacological treatments for COVID-19.
2. Prepare for new variants and combat them with vaccines and treatments.
3. Avoid school and business shutdowns.
4. Vaccinate the world.
He also promoted bringing more supply manufacturing to the U.S. and relying less on foreign companies to avoid future supply chain disruptions. He said the Justice Department also plans to aggressively prosecute supply price gouging that has occurred during the pandemic.
The White House also released a COVID-19 preparedness plan March 2 for a return to normalcy while also accounting for future variants.
Finally, Mr. Biden supported raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour and extending the Child Tax Credit. If a federal minimum wage increase passes, some ASCs would need to raise staff wages.