CDC issues new ban on evictions of most US renters after protest

Move sought by President Joe Biden after Congress fails to act on expired national ban of forced removals.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new, 60-day moratorium on rental evictions, a move the United States public health agency said would protect about 90 percent of Americans. The announcement on Tuesday comes amid a surge of COVID-19 cases linked to the spread of the Delta variant and follows the expiration on July 31 of the CDC’s previous ban on forced removals of millions of tenants who have been unable to pay rent during the pandemic. The new ban applies specifically to US counties with “high levels of community transmission” of the virus, the CDC said in a statement.