The Trump administration on Thursday extended the national public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The outbreaks of coronavirus cases, primarily in China at that time, was first declared a public health emergency by the U.S. government on Jan. 31. HHS renewed the status of the public health emergency on April 21. “The administration will continue its whole-of-America response to ensure Americans can get the care they need throughout the pandemic,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar tweeted on Thursday. Since the identification of the first COVID-19 case in the U.S. in January, more than 4 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and at least 144,524 people have died, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.