DELAWARE - On Thursday Governor John Carney ended Delaware's public health emergency order, effective at 6 p.m. on May 11. The first State of Emergency in Delaware was declared on March 13, 2020.
"This is consistent with the ending of the federal public health emergency, and with Delaware's continued progress in moving beyond COVID-19," said Carney. The state has been preparing for the end of the federal public health emergency for months.
"We are now in a better place in our response than at any point of the pandemic and well-positioned to transition out of the emergency phase and end of the COVID-19 public health emergency," said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Delaware Division of Public Health offers services for those who are underinsured and uninsured at its public health clinics. It says that these services are not impacted by the end of the public health emergency.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that access to certain COVID-19 vaccines and treatments like Paxlovid and Lagevrio will generally not be affected by the ending. Americans will continue to be able to access vaccines at no cost like they were during the emergency. This comes as part of the requirements of the Centers for Disease Control's vaccination program provider agreement. Treatments will also continue to be accessible.
That being said, payment, coverage, and access may change. A bridge program has been established to help millions of uninsured Americans maintain access to COVID-19 vaccines and care at their local pharmacies and health centers. Though the Department of Health and Human Services says that most Americans should continue to pay nothing out-of-pocket for COVID-19 vaccines, certain treatments like Paxlovid and Lagevrio may bring new expenses and these costs may change depending on a person's healthcare coverage. Costs are expected to be similar to other drugs and treatments with traditional coverage.
The Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 products will not be affected. The administration will continue to be able to authorize tests, treatments, and vaccines for emergency use without the public health emergency declaration.
Coverage for testing will change. People with traditional Medicare can continue to receive PCR and antigen tests with no cost-sharing when the lab tests are ordered by a physician or other health care providers. The United States government will continue to distribute tests through www.COVIDtests.gov.
Data surveillance will change. During the public health emergency, the Department of Health and Human Services had the authority to require lab test reporting for COVID-19. Because the emergency has ended, it will no longer have this authority which will affect the reporting of negative test results and impact the ability to calculate percent positivity for COVID-19 in some jurisdictions. Hospital data reporting will continue through April 30, 2024, but reporting will be reduced from daily reporting to weekly.
More information on the end of the public health emergency can be found at www.hhs.gov. The CDC has put together a page providing details and links to services still available to the public at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. Delaware specific information is available at coronavirus.delaware.gov.