CDC director resigns, saying end of COVID-19 emergency is good transition period

ATLANTA -- Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is leaving her government post, the agency and President Joe Biden announced Friday.

Walensky's last day on the job will be June 30, according to an email sent to CDC employees Friday, which was shared with CNN, the news organization reported.

In a statement, Biden thanked Walensky for leading "a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity" and wished her well in her next chapter.

"Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter," Biden said.

Walensky said in a letter to Biden made public by the CDC that the agency "saved and improved lives and protected the country and the world from the greatest infectious disease threat we have seen in over 100 years."

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"The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency marks a tremendous transition for our country, for public health, and in my tenure as CDC Director," Walensky wrote. "I took on this role, at your request, with the goal of leaving behind the dark days of the pandemic and moving CDC -- and public health -- forward into a much better and more trusted place."

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