Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
TODAY is the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Many of us have moved beyond COVID — we are back at school and work (without masks), we are not quarantining individuals who may have been exposed to COVID, and we are no longer fearing that every sniffle or fever is the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
But today we formally mark the end of the EMERGENCY.
Here are the THREE things you need to know about the end of the public health emergency…
Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
If you’re not in a reading mood today, you can catch me on the news talking about the end of the public health emergency.
Here are the THREE things you need to know about the end of the public health emergency…
First, the end of the Public Health Emergency is a political, administrative, and economic phenomenon. It is NOT a medical phenomenon. And by this I mean, that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has NOT disappeared from our communities. Unfortunately, the virus is still spreading. In fact, more than 250 people continue to die from COVID each day in the US. And more than 2100 individuals are hospitalized each day.
By ending the public health emergency, we are saying we have safe and effective vaccines to prevent severe illness and death. We have tests to diagnose COVID. And we have effective treatments to help those who have COVID clear the virus quickly.
COVID is no longer a disease we are unprepared for.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus will continue to circulate in our communities. It will continue to cause illness and death. But we understand the virus. We have systems in place to gather case data and wastewater data. We are monitoring for new variants. And we are planning for annual COVID vaccinations.
COVID isn’t gone. But it is NO LONGER an emergency. Simply put —
"I think we're living in a place where we're treating COVID similar to flu." ~ says Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
Second, additional benefits provided by the government to individuals and families during the public health emergency will end. Specifically, throughout the public health emergency, individuals could not be disenrolled from the Medicaid program (which is a public health insurance program for individuals with low income). Now that the public health emergency has ended, it is estimated that 24 million individuals could lose their Medicaid healthcare coverage. Some of those are no longer eligible; others will fall through administrative cracks. Additionally, SNAP (the supplemental nutrition assistance program) benefits that were increased during the public health emergency to address food insecurity will return to pre-pandemic levels. Individuals who rely on SNAP will have less money to purchase food (which costs more).
If you do not receive SNAP or are not on Medicaid, you might be thinking so what?
Well, we ALL need to care. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that health is not determined by individual actions. Health is a team sport. If members of our community lack healthcare insurance or cannot afford to feed their families, then our communities are not healthy. And we cannot be healthy.
We need to be working to ensure that everyone has healthcare insurance — so they can seek out preventive care, visit with a primary care provider, get proper screening tests, and seek treatment and care when necessary.
And we need to work to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.
We cannot be healthy until everyone in our community is healthy and has access to healthcare.
PERIOD.
Finally, we all need to recognize that this will not be the last public health emergency we will experience in our lifetimes. We need to be prepared — individually, as a community, and as a well-supported public health community — for the next pandemic. Whether it is influenza or something yet-to-be-discovered, we are likely to experience another pandemic.
We must be prepared.
We must be on watch.
We must invest in public health in order to prepare for what is to come…
Questions about the end of the public health emergency? Please ask.
I will continue to write about Epi(demiology) Matters even though the public health emergency is over. COVID cases will continue to rise and fall. And there is a possibility that another wave of disease could be in our future. As we wait to see what happens, there are many public health topics to discuss, including OTC birth control, new recommendations regarding mammograms, and how to be safe and healthy this summer. Be sure you are subscribed and are sharing these posts with your friends and family.