January 11, 2023 – The Department of Health and Human Services has prolonged the COVID-19 state of emergency imposed in January 2020, Secretary Xavier Becerra announced Wednesday.
Becerra gave a opinion The decision was “a result of the ongoing impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic” and was made “after consultation with public health officials, where appropriate.”
This was the twelfth extension of the state of emergency, which is to last for 90 days.
“There are still a lot of Covid cases out there, and the public health emergency and its determination give us the tools to fight this,” said Ashish Jha, MD, White House Covid-19 response coordinator CNN.
Jha stressed that the highly contagious XBB.1.5 variant was only one among the variants that led to the choice, but not the one reason.
“The minister has decided that the tools of the public health emergency remain necessary to continue to fight the virus,” Jha said.
The provisions of the general public health emergency include giving the federal government authority over data tracking and allowing pharmacists to manage the vaccine.
Since the emergence of the highly contagious subvariant Omicron XBB.1.5, the number of recent weekly infections has increased by 16.2% on a 7-day average, based on the CDC.
CNBC reported that the emergency declaration protected public medical health insurance, gave hospitals flexibility to answer a surge in patients, and expanded telemedicine.
Jha's team hopes to reassure Americans that the general public is now higher protected on account of the provision of COVID-19 vaccines and coverings.