Covid-19 public health emergency extended in the US
Source: WSIL TV/CNN-Wire
The Biden administration on Friday extended the Covid-19 public health emergency for another three months. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra officially renewed the declaration, extending it through October 13, 2022. The emergency declaration has been in place since January 2020, and the latest renewal comes as the Omicron offshoot BA.5, the most contagious variant yet, continues to stake its claim in the US.
Daily case rates, though vastly undercounted, are the highest they've been in months, as are Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Data published this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than half of the country's population lives in a county with a "high Covid-19 Community Level," where the health care system is at risk of becoming overburdened and universal indoor masking is recommended.
"The Public Health Emergency declaration continues to provide us with tools and authorities needed to respond to the highly transmissible COVID-19 subvariants that are currently circulating around the country," a Biden administration official told CNN. "The PHE provides essential capabilities and flexibilities to hospitals to better care for patients, particularly if we were to see a significant increase in hospitalizations in the coming weeks." Indeed, ensemble forecasts from the CDC published this week do predict that hospitalizations in the US will rise over the next month.
It's the first time in weeks that the forecasts have predicted an increase in hospitalizations, instead of a stable outlook. "Without the PHE in place, we would be limited in our ability to provide broad and equitable access to lifesaving treatments through our Test to Treat initiative, for example, which relies on flexibility for telehealth and operations," the official said. "Not renewing the PHE would leave us with fewer tools to respond and mean more Americans would get severely ill and end up in the hospital."
Read more: https://www.wsiltv.com/coronavirus/covid-19-public-health-emergency-extended-in-the-us/article_e55745b9-8ef3-5900-b74c-e4353fb616e6.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
and grabbed the story early this morning.
I think like much of this pandemic - whether how it has manifested in the U.S. "regionally" (bubbling up in some places and almost non-existent in other places that may get impacted a month or two later) or how it has been hitting different countries at different times, I think it has been difficult to deal with regarding nationalized policies, and that is why they have often deferred to the states and counties to handle.
Just today looking at the community spread from CDC's tracker here (data included through to 7/14/22) -
it has reached a point of concern, vs a few weeks ago when you had more areas/states "in the green", with mostly the NE "in the yellow and some red" (and I think the NE was like that back in May and they are now cleared or clearing it and moved to "green" ).
I know in May/June, we in Philly had spiked to "red" and have backed into "yellow" and I just continue to wear my mask regardless (had my 2nd booster May 12).
And the thread I had posted the above in was to someone who was concerned about St. Louis and their spike into "red" -
As you can see in the "background" of the above, how many surrounding states/counties as of June 2, 2022 were "green" but as of this week, are "yellow" and "red" now!
CNN had it in their "Health" category - https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/15/health/covid-public-health-emergency-extended/index.html
statistics and analytical observations were much of my work and had I had time in my prescribed college workload (between all the lab courses that required 4 hours per credit), I could have taken a stats class on top of the 3 semesters of calculus and gotten a math minor... but alas. 
I have been following/tracking the data myself (saving it on my laptop) and even had a mega thread in LBN that I updated for 6 months at the beginning of the pandemic - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142446993 (driving some LBN regulars absoutely insane 
).
But agree that the trends were just too obvious.
I'm seeing us doing a repeat of last summer when Delta started raging, followed that late fall with the emergence of the earliest Omicron variants that peaked in the U.S. this past January. I am analogizing Omicron's BA.5 (the current one that has become predominant) with Delta, and what may end up being the variant out of India that is hitting other countries (including South Africa I think) - BA.2.75, which although has been confirmed in the U.S., hasn't shown up yet on CDC's variant tracker, but probably will soon.
Since I'm retired, I can do hours at the stores away from the crowds and I have observed that the masking is mixed... I do still see the older adults masking with the middleagers not doing it anymore. I mask and will continue to do so and will try to get whatever bivalent/Omicron-targeted vaccine booster that gets approved this fall!
On the exact day I was eligible to get it - I was diagnosed with the flu! And I'd gotten a flu shot, too. Thanks for the heads up! 
I got my 2nd booster back on May 12th with the hope that a 5-month boost would correspond to whenever they approve a new multivariant-targeted vaccine this fall.
One of my sisters had texted that a second work buddy ended up with "flurona" - flu and COVID. That was despite being vaxxed and boosted. This really is where that "swiss cheese" approach is needed (wearing the mask and doing social distancing, etc, to mitigate).
Hope you recover from the flu quickly! This past year's vaccine really missed the mark and they admitted that. 
And because of Covid, I ended up having to go to the hospital ER which was a nightmare. I spent half a day there! But I was finally tested for both flu and Covid, was diagnosed with the flu, "Type A." And that was the exact day that I was eligible for my second booster. So I finally bit the bullet and got that this week. I'm pretty congested and the pharmacist said it was up to me, but I figured I was already there, had made an appointment, so I just ended up with a really sore arm. I know now to get it in the other arm since I couldn't lie down to sleep.
I asked the pharmacist if there would be more in the future, since that's what my brother keeps asking me, and she said it will probably be a periodic vaccine, like flu shots. *sigh*
with the hope you don't pick up some secondary bacterial infection along the way - and then the whole mess gets extended out for more weeks. 
And yeah - this is going to be at least annual, if not biannual because these vaccines seem to supposedly only hang on for about 4 - 5 months providing a good response before the immune response wanes. I guess the hope is that they can find some target spot on the COVID-19 virus that appears on most if not all the variants and be able to produce some sort of vaccine that teaches the body's immune system to trigger when it detects that zone on an incoming virus and not "forget" what to do.
Novavax just got approved for an EUA so I expect that at some point, it might become part of a mix/match primary series or as a booster (but it's not yet approved for either - just as part of its own primary series). It uses a different mechanism for to teach the body's immune system how to respond and is thought to be a possible good alternative to those who either don't want a mRNA vaccine or possibly (if they authorize it) as a 2nd dose for someone who didn't complete a primary series of any of the other vaccines.
But fortunately I'm not expected anywhere. And it might really help if Covid vaccines became routine, people would be less likely to just blow them off - like my brother. He kept asking me how many more he had to get - went out to get his first booster, but I couldn't talk him into the second and now the nearby mall clinic where he went for all of them is closed. 
But he does have regular doctor's appointments. For some reason, his health insurance requires a checkup every three months. I actually took him a couple of times as well as for his first two vaccine shots, but now his GP has retired and his daughter has taken over his practice. But the good thing about that is that she usually has her (therapy) dog there with her and my brother really likes the dog! 
many localities will probably be reopening some of the vaccine clinics - especially now that vaccines have been approved (either fully or as an EUA) for infants 6 months through to adults. I know that pharmacists aren't approved for doing the 3 and unders (although I think some states are working on getting that certification criteria together themselves), but for the 4 and up, there is a need to get them done because Omicron seemed to hit that age pretty hard.
I know the summer months are probably the slowest for any place doing vaccines but hopefully by the fall with schools starting back up, they'll get clinics up again - even if only a couple days a week.
And looks like your brother may be fortunate to have a good transition to the new doc - who is not only a family member, but has the secret weapon doggy to boot!
There's a bunch of us doing our own tracking. I hated when my state (PA) and city (Philly) started the "once a week" reporting because there are the long gaps and then they don't update the same days either.
But I just roll with it.
Stay safe!