E-Paper
As Ashish Jha demits office, Biden praises his record
With the United States officially declaring the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency in May, Ashish Jha, the Indian-origin White House Covid-19 response coordinator, has stepped down from his position to return to his academic role at Brown University.
With the United States officially declaring the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency in May, Ashish Jha, the Indian-origin White House Covid-19 response coordinator, has stepped down from his position to return to his academic role at Brown University.
Announcing Jha’s departure, President Joe Biden said that when he had taken over the presidency, the nation was facing a once-in-a-generation pandemic but with the administration’s whole-of-government approach, the US now had tools to manage Covid-19 and ensure that virus did not control the daily lives of Americans.
“For the last year, I have relied on Dr. Ashish Jha to help me do just that as the White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator. As one of the leading public health experts in America, he has effectively translated and communicated complex scientific challenges into concrete actions that helped save and improve the lives of millions of Americans,” said Biden in a statement. He thanked Jha for his service and said that the US was a stronger and healthier nation due to Jha’s contributions.
In a set of tweets, Jha said that it had been the honour of his life to serve the President in the battle against Covid-19.
“We have some of the lowest rates of hospitalizations and deaths since COVID first appeared. We have tests, vaccines and treatments now widely available to the American people to help manage the virus. We built up our surveillance systems and our stockpiles and are better prepared for the future. The Public Health Emergency is over but COVID isn’t. The work continues,” said Jha.
While serving as the White House’s top Covid-19 official, Jha spoke at the HT Leadership Summit in 2022 about the lessons from the pandemic, the American and Indian experiences of battling the virus and the challenges that remained.
