With the COVID-19 public health emergency extension currently in place until mid-January, we asked our public health student ambassadors if they believe the emergency should be renewed further or allowed to expire.
Kate Colpetzer, Health Services Management student
The Covid-19 emergency has been extended into mid-January. The question is, should this emergency be extended further into the year?
As a public health student, I believe that it should. As you can see on the two graphs below from the CDC, deaths from Covid-19 are forecasted from December 1 to January 1.
The CDC is predicting another rise in deaths, which means there is going to be a rise in cases. With people traveling for the holidays, I believe that we should extend the emergency into mid-spring so that our country is adequately prepared to address the influx of Covid-19 infections across the country post-holidays.
Lucy Khatib, Epidemiology student
The COVID-19 emergency status has been extended to mid-January. As a student of public health, I believe that this status should continue past January of next year. This virus is still impacting people, especially those who are older or are immunodeficient. COVID is still around, and keeping a high guard is what is needed to keep numbers low.
With the holidays coming up there can be a potential boom in case numbers, which could lead to a ripple into January and February. I feel that it would be best for the U.S. to continue with this emergency status.
Make sure to practice COVID safety measures during the upcoming holiday! What do you think is the best way for the U.S. to continue with COVID emergency status?
Jaida Speth, Health Services Management student
So close, yet so far.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not alert states of any intent to lift the public health emergency for the 12th time since January 2020, which means it will remain in place at least through mid-January 2023.
The declaration of the public health emergency has expanded public health insurance through Medicaid and CHIP and it has given hospitals and other healthcare providers more flexibility in operating.
It is hard to tell today if the public health emergency should be extended past January 11, 2023, but public health officials are expecting another Covid surge this winter as people gather for the holidays and cases are already on the rise.
Keeping an eye on hospitalizations of patients with Covid for the next couple of weeks will be helpful in predicting whether or not the public health emergency will be extended for a 13th time.
In the meantime, get your flu shot and stay up to date with your boosters!
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