Federal COVID public health declaration ends on May 11

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The World Health Organization (WHO) declared last Friday, that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a global health emergency, and that comes as US authorities issued new guidelines as the federal COVID public health declaration ends on May 11 — which is also the date when the U.S Presidential declaration for each state and territory, including American Samoa also ends.

The Associated Press quotes WHO officials saying that even though the emergency phase is over, the pandemic hasn’t finished, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

“It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a news conference in Geneva.

“That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” he said, warning that new variants could yet emerge. Tedros noted that while the official COVID-19 death toll was 7 million, the real figure was estimated to be at least 20 million.

WHO first declared the pandemic an emergency in January 2020. (See WHO online for details on latest development — www.who.int)

The decision by the United Nation health agency comes as the U.S government is set to end its federal public health emergency on Thursday this week, May 11.

Last week Monday, the Biden Administration announced that it would end most of the last remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements on Thursday this week when the national public health emergency for the coronavirus ends, according to a White House statement issued last week Monday.

Vaccine requirements for federal workers and federal contractors, as well as foreign air travelers to the U.S. will end May 11. The government is also beginning the process of lifting shot requirements for Head Start educators, healthcare workers, and noncitizens at U.S. land borders. (See White House online — www.whitehouse.gov - for details.)

And also last week Friday, the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that May 11 marks the end of the federal COVID-19 declaration. After this date, CDC’s authorizations to collect certain types of public health data will expire.

“The United States has mobilized and sustained a historic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a nation, we now find ourselves at a different point in the pandemic – with more tools and resources than ever before to better protect ourselves and our communities,” said CDC.

The federal health agency outlined new guidelines for collecting and sharing data, noting that vaccines, treatments and testing will remain available.

“CDC is shifting from an emergency response to incorporating COVID-19 activities into routine public health practice,” the agency said. CDC has provided specific details on its COVID-19 page online at (www.cdc.gov).

In February this year, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a national notice that the incident period for all COVID-19 major disaster declarations and the nationwide emergency declaration “will close effective May 11.”

Separate federal notices were also issued for each state and territory — including American Samoa — to reflect that May 11 is the closing period for presidential COVID disaster declarations. (See Samoa News online Feb. 20, 2023 for details.)

American Samoa ended its local COVID emergency declarations on Dec. 01, 2022, with 34 lives claimed last year in the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the local Health Department continues to offer COVID vaccination at its clinics.