![]() Don't just figure you can beat it on your own. And then there's the possibility you could transmit the virus to others at risk of severe COVID and death from the virus.Īnd what if you test positive and have risks: say, you're older, immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions such as obesity, heart disease, a compromised immune system or diabetes. So is it ok to just blithely dismiss a case of COVID?Įven if you're an individual with no health risks and you catch the virus, there are things to worry about: just plain feeling awful is possible even if you're not high-risk. And the truth is that the world now has better tools and treatments for COVID than for some age-old diseases: from the readily available self-tests to vaccines and boosters to the paxlovid pill to lessen severity for higher-risk patients. a health policy epidemiologist with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in Dallas, who writes the blog Your Local Epidemiologist. "WHO now sees COVID-19 as a threat in our regular repertoire of things-trying-to-kill-us," says epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina. Nonetheless, the reassuring message from CDC and WHO is that you're less likely to catch COVID-19 because case counts have dropped due to vigilance and treatments. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, "People don't need a public health emergency to take something seriously." "HIV doesn't have a public health emergency declaration, tetanus doesn't have a public health emergency declaration, and yet people stay up to date with vaccinations and treatments," says Dr. Then again, so are diseases like malaria and cholera.Īnd just as we take those diseases seriously, we should take COVID-19 seriously, say the experts. It's still infecting thousands – and killing thousands – each week. Wafa El-Sadr, director of the Global Health Initiative at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. The announcement that the emergency is over doesn't mean the virus been vanquished, says Dr. "If the public can't see progress, it will be harder to convince them next time that these emergency measures are necessary," says Bollyky. Well, the quotes from the CDC and WHO are clear.īut Bollyky says articulating the targets and goals for the ending the pandemic all along - such as how low the case and death counts would need to be to lift mask mandates or school closures - would have helped the public understand why the agencies felt that May 2023 was the right time to conclude the public health emergency. ![]() Public Health Emergency was ending because "as a nation, we now find ourselves at a different point in the pandemic – with more tools and resources than ever before to better protect ourselves and our communities."ĭid those agencies do a good job explaining themselves? In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the U.S. ![]() Last week when the World Health Organization ended its 3-plus year Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the emergency committee advising the WHO's Director General said it was time to do so because of "the decreasing trend in COVID-19 deaths, the decline in COVID-19 related hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, and the high levels of population immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Thomas Bollyky, senior fellow for global health, economics and development at the Council on Foreign Relations, says that a public health emergency is "really designed to spur international cooperation around a public health event that is serious, sudden, unexpected and requires immediate attention."Īnd what makes this an appropriate time to end the emergency state? So remind me, what was the purpose of the emergency state? We'll be answering a sampling of questions in a follow-up FAQ. Dear readers, if you have questions about this new phase of the pandemic, write us at and put "FAQ" in the subject line. As the world enters a new phase of the pandemic, we talked to public health gurus about how to move forward since the disease appears to be here to stay even as the emergency is lifted. The FAQ series published in the Goats and Soda blog was a cornerstone of NPR pandemic coverage, touching on everything from transmission via pets ( possible but unlikely ) to whether a glass of wine after a vaccine is advisable ( seems ok ). Goats and Soda Popular COVID FAQs in 2022: Outdoor risks, boosters, 1-way masking, faint test lines ![]()
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