Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) office pushed outdated coronavirus guidelines despite the fact the pandemic has ended.
A recorded message for Ocasio-Cortez’s office still mentioned coronavirus guidelines urging individuals to social distance, according to the New York Post.
“Thank you for calling the office of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Federal, state and local officials have advised that social distancing is critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19,” the recorded message stated, adding “staff in the congresswoman’s DC and district offices will shortly begin telecommuting.”
“Meetings and other business will be conducted by phone or video. Thank you for your understanding,” it said.
However, it remains unclear if Ocasio-Cortez’s office has changed the message since the time of the original report, as Breitbart News called the congresswoman’s office and did not immediately hear the social distancing warning in the first recorded message.
Regardless, the congresswoman’s office had the original message lingering for presumably months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped the social distancing requirement in August 2022.
Instead of requiring people to keep a six foot distance from one another, the CDC updated the guidance to state that it is simply “emphasizing that physical distance is just one component of how to protect yourself and others. ”
Further, President Biden himself verbally declared the pandemic “over” the following month, in September.
WATCH: President Joe Biden: ‘The Pandemic Is Over’
Months later, in April, Biden signed a bill ending the coronavirus national emergency, which formally ended May 11:
That same month, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) announced that the coronavirus was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
As Breitbart News reported:
The spread of coronavirus “is no longer an unusual or unexpected event” and “the world has made significant and impressive global progress since the declaration of the PHEIC in January 2020,” allowing for a change in approach to the disease.
The PHEIC designation is one of the most severe alarms that the W.H.O. can sound regarding disease outbreaks or other health struggles; it is given to situations that “require immediate international action” and jeopardize the health and safety of multiple countries, if not the whole world. Tedros declared the coronavirus then-epidemic a PHEIC on January 30, 2020, nearly a month after the nation of Taiwan first alerted the W.H.O. to the spread of an unknown infectious disease in central China.
…
“With great hope I declare COVID-19 [Wuhan coronavirus] over as a global health emergency,” he wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, the congresswoman’s state is also continuing to drop requirements, moving to drop the vaccine requirement for healthcare workers later this year due to what the New York Department of Health said is the “changing landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving vaccine recommendations.” This comes well over a year after society realized the vaccines do not prevent transmission of the virus, nor do they prevent one from contracting it, despite original assertions from health officials and President Biden himself.
One state representative suggested to the New York Post that, perhaps, the congresswoman’s office simply forgot to update its voicemail, but that remains unclear.
Meanwhile, New York City still continues to tout masks as an “effective tool” to reduce risk of coronavirus exposure.
RELATED: Pandemic Performance: AOC Masks Up for Photo Op, Then Removes Mask Afterward