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White House Set to End Pandemic Emergency

The change will impact how the medical community and people are supported.

As the pandemic winds down, there are still 400-plus people dying of the disease each day. Some would like the federal government to end the health emergency immediately. They also see the funding that has been given to fighting the disease as a huge waste of money. To be sure, there had to be waste when that much money was thrown at the problem.

But, then there is this quote from the New York Times: “The White House argues that it is only because of federal Covid policies mandating free tests, treatments and vaccines that the pandemic is now under better control. Covid was the third-leading cause of death from 2020 through mid-2022; now it is no longer among the top five killers, federal officials said.”

One thing I do know is that it is not good to “pull the plug” on a program without giving sufficient warning to those who have been administering the benefits of the program or operating it within its constraints. Everyone wants to have “fair warning” so they can adjust to the upcoming change and modify their policies. It is what business wants — I can assure you of that.

What this means to you is free COVID-19 test kits are about to end!
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.