Up Close on May 7, 2023: Muslim NJ mayor denied White House entry, Covid emergency ends May 11

ByBill Ritter and Eyewitness News WABC logo

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Up Close on May 7, 2023: Is the COVID-19 emergency really over?

Up Close: With the COVID-19 emergency officially ending on May 11, what are the lessons learned from the pandemic? And are we done with COVID?

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- On this week's episode of Up Close, we discuss WHO officially downgrading COVID-19 and no longer characterizing it as a global health emergency.

The U.N. health agency first declared the coronavirus to be an international crisis on Jan. 30, 2020. Since then, the toll of COVID has been devastating. More than 1.1 million killed in just the U.S. and tens of millions of others sickened.

We talk to ABC's Dr. Jen Ashton about the lessons learned from the pandemic, and whether or not we're really done with COVID.

Also, we talk to Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, New Jersey's longest-serving mayor, who was denied entry to the White House for a Muslim celebration that he was invited to. We discuss his experience and unpack the reasoning behind why he was blocked from attending the event.

WATCH Up Close on our Connected TV apps for Fire, Roku, Apple TV and Android TV. Click here to learn more.

Up Close with Bill Ritter airs Sunday mornings at 11:00 on Channel 7.

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