After more than three years, the U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency ended on Thursday, May 11.
Earlier this year, the White House announced that it would end the emergency as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have been at their lowest levels since March 2020. Based on a fact sheet issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), many Americans likely won’t notice the emergency is ending as it primarily impacted Medicare waivers and related services, coverage for COVID-19 testing, virus surveillance, and changes to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
“Our whole-of-government response to Long COVID will not change,” said HHS in a fact sheet earlier this week, referring to what some medical professionals say are lingering, long-term symptoms of COVID-19. “The Department has and will continue to coordinate a whole-of-government response to the longer-term effects of COVID-19, including Long COVID and associated conditions. On April 5, HHS released this Fact Sheet outlining the progress made in responding to Long COVID and actions the Department is taking to address the needs of the growing population with Long COVID and associated conditions.”…