What will the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency mean for the future of COVID care?

UCLA Hospital Copes With Pandemic Surge As California Becomes First State With 3 Million COVID-19 Cases — TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 21: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Allyson Black (R), a registered nurse, cares for COVID-19 patients in a makeshift ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on January 21, 2021 in Torrance, California. The hospital is utilizing about 20 military medical personnel deployed by the Department of Defense to help shore up overwhelmed staff at a number of medical centers in Southern California. The hospital is over its ICU capacity due to the coronavirus and has been forced to treat multiple COVID-19 patients who require ICU level care together in rooms which were designed for lower levels of care. California has become the first state in the nation to record 3 million known COVID-19 infections. Los Angeles County reported more than 250 COVID-19 fatalities on January 21. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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Jenny Ferm is an intern for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley.

May 05, 2023

Updated August 07, 2023

This week on Under the Radar:

The national COVID-19 public health emergency is coming to an end on May 11, and it’s taking with it access to free COVID tests and vaccines. The emergency has been in place since January 2020 and has been renewed several times over the last three years. Its end is not only symbolic; it also might mean a drastically different level of care for COVID patients within hospitals.

"I wouldn't say we are in a post-pandemic phase. We are in a much better phase than we were before, but for me the death rate is still far too high," said Abdullah Shihipar, a writer and public health researcher at Brown University School of Public Health.

From mandatory mask requirements in care facilities to nationwide data collection, the standards of COVID care with which we have become well-acquainted might be gone by next week.

"For many families, COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc in their families," said Dr. Atiya Martin, CEO and founder of All Aces Inc. and former Chief Resilience Officer for the city of Boston. "You still have high infection rates and deaths within working class and communities of color, including undocumented residents or immigrant communities, and so you have this dynamic of the current infection rate being a lot lower than before but still disproportionately impacting these communities."

Some medical professionals think this is as good a time as any to end the emergency status while others are worried about what it might mean for their patients, specifically those who are uninsured.

"The decision isn't is today the day to stop wearing masks in the hospital, the decision is whether you implement masks forever as the new normal or whether you make them optional... It is a really difficult decision and it really depends on individual values," said Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease specialist physician, Chief Infection Control Officer for Tufts Medicine Health System, and the hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.

GUESTS:

Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease specialist physician, Chief Infection Control Officer for Tufts Medicine Health System, and the hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.

Abdullah Shihipar, a writer and public health researcher at Brown University School of Public Health.

Dr. Atiya Martin, CEO and founder of All Aces Inc., a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Northeastern University’s Global Resilience Institute, and former Chief Resilience Officer for the city of Boston.

Jenny Ferm is an intern for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley.