On the one hand, most voters have had enough.

On the other hand, a substantial portion of the Dem base can't let it go. The Dems' hyperbolic politicization of the issue for two years now has simply wrecked many of their supporters' psyches. Doing a 180 now would be quite a trick, given how much of their base has bought the panic hook, line and sinker. They've got to take an approach similar to weaning a drug addict off heroin -- bit by bit, using something else as a distraction. I don't think the base will simply allow them to end it without warning.

The second problem they face is that removing all their restrictions will not change a thing with respect to facts on the ground. The mask theater, vax mandates, etc., are completely ineffective, and that will be plain to see once they are removed and nothing changes. Imagine trying to defend what they've done once the curtain has been pulled all the way back.

Third, the need to keep COVID around to maintain the case for the vote-by-mail, ballot-harvesting, etc., scams that they ran in 2020. If they bury COVID as an issue, they also bury all justification for those scams. That's why they are trying to codify them with HR1, so that they can be maintained even in the absence of COVID. If HR1 fails, they'll need COVID.