Washington DC - The administration of president Joe Biden has officially extended the Covid-19 public health emergency declaration as cases in the US rise again.

As reported by CNN, US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra made the renewal on Wednesday, the same day it was set to expire.

The designation, which was first put in place by the Trump administration in January 2020, will stay in place for another 90 days, giving the federal government authorities over things such as data tracking and administration of vaccines. So far it has been renewed 11 times.

White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha explained to the outlet that the renewal comes as "there's still a lot of Covid out there, and the public health emergency and his determination gives us tools to fight this."

"The secretary made a decision that the tools of the public health emergency are still necessary to continue to fight this virus," they added.

The news also comes as rates of the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant AKA the "Kraken" has caused a rise in the average in new weekly cases by 16.2%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An administration official explained to Axios that the decision to terminate the designation will be made "based on the best available data and science."