What does the end of the COVID-19 emergency mean for NC? What will and won’t change

Charlotte Observer - 5/8/2023

The next phase of the battle against COVID-19 is beginning, and that means changes to pandemic response that will impact Charlotte and beyond.

The public health emergency in the United States will end soon, just days after the World Health Organization declared an end to the global emergency brought on by the virus that’s killed millions since 2020.

While the coronavirus is still spreading and some things won’t change, the moves do mean some aspects of the federal and international responses to the pandemic will be scaled back or end completely.

Here’s what to know about how the end of COVID emergencies will affect life in North Carolina:

When does the COVID-19 public health emergency end?

The public health emergency in response to COVID-19 in the U.S. will “expire at the end of the day on May 11,” according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

President Joe Biden announced his plan to let the emergency end in January, the Associated Press reported.

The public health emergency was first declared in January 2020 by then-President Donald Trump’s administration, per the AP, and has been extended multiple times since.

Friday, the WHO, the United Nations’ health agency, also declared an end to the “global health emergency” over the virus.

What does end of COVID-19 emergency mean?

“There are significant flexibilities and actions that will not be affected” by the end of the COVID emergency, the Health and Human Services department said in a statement, including “access to COVID-19 vaccinations and certain treatments, such as Paxlovid” and some “telehealth flexibilities” for folks on Medicare and Medicaid.

But some parts of the pandemic response will change.

The White House said Monday that the end of the national public health emergency on May 11 will also bring the end of COVID vaccine requirements for federal workers, federal contractors and foreign air travelers to the U.S., the AP reported.

“The requirement for private insurance companies to cover COVID-19 tests without cost sharing, both for OTC and laboratory tests, will end” too, per HHS, but “coverage may continue if plans choose to continue to include it.”

“Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in Part B will continue to have coverage without cost sharing for laboratory-conducted COVID-19 tests when ordered by a provider, but their current access to free over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests will end,” HHS said.

The government “may continue to distribute free COVID-19 tests from the Strategic National Stockpile through the United States Postal Service, states, and other community partners,” but that will be “dependent on supply and resources.”

Some “Medicare and Medicaid waivers and broad flexibilities” for health care providers will also end, and the way that “COVID-19 laboratory results and immunization data” are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will change.

Major Charlotte-area health care providers — including Atrium Health, Novant Health, CaroMont Health, Cone Health and Randolph Health — announced in a joint statement in late March they were ending mask requirements in hospitals, citing declining COVID cases and vaccine availability.