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Biden administration announces new 60-day eviction moratorium

The order, announced by the CDC, applies where there's "substantial and high levels of community transmission" of the coronavirus.

Oscar Gonzalez Former staff reporter
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People worried about losing their homes will get some help

People who are worried about losing their homes will get some help.

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The CDC on Tuesday announced a new, 60-day eviction moratorium. Under the order, the moratorium will be in effect for counties "experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels" of the coronavirus. It'll expire Oct. 3. The news was first reported by the Associated Press. 

The eviction moratorium, first enacted during the Donald Trump administration early in the pandemic and then extended by President Joe Biden, expired July 31. A month earlier, the Supreme Court declined to lift the ban, but one justice said the CDC "exceeded its statutory authority" and that Congress would have to authorize an extension. 

On Tuesday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said forcing people from their homes could fuel the spread of the coronavirus.

"This moratorium is the right thing to do to keep people in their homes and out of congregate settings where COVID-19 spreads," Walensky said in the announcement. "It is imperative that public health authorities act quickly to mitigate such an increase of evictions, which could increase the likelihood of new spikes in SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Such mass evictions and the attendant public health consequences would be very difficult to reverse."

It's unclear which counties will be affected by this order, but a statement from Sen. Chuck Schumer said that about 90% of the country will be covered. COVID-19 cases have increased across the US due to the more transmissible delta variant. 

The first eviction moratorium, announced in March 2020, aimed to help those who were out of a job due to the lockdowns then in effect. Its initial expiration date was July 25, 2020, but it's been extended multiple times by Trump and then by Biden.