The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Renews for the 12th Time
The public health emergency (PHE) has again been renewed for the COVID-19 pandemic as of yesterday by the Biden administration. The announcement was made by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, which marks it as the 12th renewal.
The public health emergency (PHE) has again been renewed for the COVID-19 pandemic as of yesterday by the Biden administration.
The announcement was made by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, which marks it as the 12th renewal. The public health emergency was first declared by former HHS Secretary Alex Azar in January of 2020.
Becerra issued the previous PHE on October 13, 2022.
Each PHE lasts for 90 days before expiring or getting renewed. Though it's not required by law, Becerra has publicly committed to give a 60-day notice if the administration plans to expire the declaration.
This new announcement comes as cases remain to multiply hundreds and thousands daily.
In the last 30 days COVID-19 cases hit their highest peak on Jan. 9 at an average of 80,528 a week, according to New York Times. However, cases continue to prove they're at lower heights compared to last year. COVID-19 cases reached 5.4 million in the week of January 12, 2022 and this year the peak hit 470,699 in the week of January 4.
As the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said back in September, we are now in a position to stop the pandemic, however, we're not there yet.
Dr. Syra Madad of the NYC hospital system told Managed Healthcare Executive back in December of 2022 that the omicron dynasty "which now has over 500 sub lineages" is getting better with evading our immunity, rendering the only monoclonal antibody treatment we have ineffective.
"At the same time, the average case of COVID-19 is associated with less severe disease given increased immunity in the population, vaccines and treatments like Paxlovid," the infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs added.
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