It’s been 1,196 days since the United States declared a national public health emergency due to COVID-19. Today, that national emergency officially ends.
The Department of Health and Human Services is allowing the emergency declaration that was issued on January 31, 2020, to expire. It was renewed thirteen times, the last of which was on February 9, 2023. On that day, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced it would likely be the last renewal “based on current trends” showing COVID infections, deaths, and hospitalizations are down.
Those trends have held and last week, the World Health Organization announced COVID-19 no longer constitutes a global health emergency.
End of emergency but not pandemic
The end of the COVID emergency does not mean the end of the pandemic or the need for continued vigilance. Instead, it signals a transition from a national emergency response to a sustainable, long-term strategy for managing the virus.
In a letter to governors in February, Bacerra credited the Biden Administration’s “whole-of-government approach to combatting the virus” for his decision.
“We are in a better place in our response than we were three years ago, and we can transition away from the emergency phase,” he said.
Bacerra says the Biden Administration effectively implemented the largest adult vaccination program in U.S. history, with nearly 270 million Americans receiving at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. As a result of this and other efforts, he says there’s been a sharp decline in COVID case numbers, deaths, and hospitalizations, since the peak of the Omicron surge at the end of January 2022.
“We have come to this point in our fight against the virus because of our historic investments and efforts to mitigate its worst impacts,” Bacerra said, adding that “COVID-19 remains a significant public health priority for the Administration.”
What will change?
Ending the federal emergency declaration brings an end to the emergency powers granted to the president and executive branch for dealing with the COVID crisis. As a result, state and local governments, private sector organizations, and individuals will be expected to take greater responsibility for preventing the spread of the virus and managing its impact.
While the end of the public health emergency signals a shift in the nation’s COVID response, some things will not change.
Access to COVID-19 vaccinations and treatments, including Paxlovid and Lagevrio, will generally not be affected, and emergency use authorizations will remain widely accessible for the development of new drugs and therapies.
Medicaid telehealth flexibilities and eligibility redeterminations for Medicaid will not be affected, according to an HHS Fact Sheet released this week. States will still have significant flexibility in covering and paying for Medicaid services delivered through telehealth, but the traditional healthcare marketplace will transition as the federal government will no longer receive funds from Congress to purchase more vaccines and treatments.
Out-of-pocket expenses for COVID-19 treatments may change and will depend on an individual’s health care coverage.
CDC: End of Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
Death toll
In Georgia, the Deputy Commissioner of Public Health, Dr. Chris Rustin, told the agency’s board this week that the change in PHE status will not affect the state offering free tests and vaccines.
He said about 10 to 30 people every week are still dying from the virus. Most are elderly or have compromised immune systems.
“We are providing free over-the-counter COVID test kits to the public. That will continue for some time because we have bought up a large number of those kits, and we still receive funding grants that don’t expire for another year or longer that we’re able to purchase these testing supplies,” he said.
According to Rustin, the end of the emergency mostly will affect data collection. As of May 11, national reporting of COVID deaths will end, making it impossible to track such deaths in Georgia.
The latest figures from the DPH show that, since the COVID outbreak began in Georgia in March 2020, there have been 35,367 confirmed COVID deaths in the state. At least 3,000 Northeast Georgians have died from the disease or from complications related to it.
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