EU: keys after the end of the emergency due to Covid-19

A health emergency in the United States due to Covid-19, which has killed more than a million people in the country, ends this thursday And that is the end of the numerous measures that have been implemented so far in various fields, from healthcare and tourism to immigration.

Three years after the start of the pandemic, the Joe Biden government announced at the end of January last year that as of May 11 at 11:59 p.m., it will no longer consider Covid-19 a national emergency.

The White House justified the lifting of the public health emergency, which saw a 95% drop in U.S. deaths from covid-19 since January 2021 and a 91% drop in hospital admissions. In addition, worldwide mortality from the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is “in its lower levels since the start of the pandemic.

With the end of the health emergency, many social measures remain in the hands of the states, such as the automatic resumption of access to Medicaid, a program that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. Here are some of the changes that will take place.

Photo: Photolaboratory

Loss of health insurance

Thanks to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act enacted during the emergency, access to Medicaid and the need to temporarily renew it every time it expired was eliminated.

This protection has prevented coverage disruption for millions of Americans during the pandemic and has helped ensure access to tests, free treatment and vaccinations.

According to KFF, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to national health, this allowed between February 2020 and March 2023. Medicaid grew by about 20 million people.

Following the end of the public health emergency, states will resume standard eligibility, registration, renewal, and verification operations, and a total of 17 million people they may lose coverage, according to KFF estimates.

This will disproportionately affect low-income people, African Americans and Hispanics, who have also faced higher death and hospitalization rates during the pandemic.

Photo: Reuters

End of section 42, expulsion of migrants under the pretext of a pandemic

Under the guise of a pandemic and the discovery of a rule incorporated into the Public Health Act of 1944 created by Franklin D. Roosevelt, former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) proclaimed Section 42 in March 2020, and Joe Biden has kept it in place ever since.

This regulation allowed hot emissions migrants at the border with Mexico of certain nationalities after crossing the border illegally, without the possibility of applying for asylum. It is estimated that the United States has carried out more than 2.5 million expulsions during all this time, according to the organization International Rescue Committee.

The ordinance goes into effect on Friday. Title 8which sets severe consequences for crossing the border, and there will also be a rule created by Biden that will restrict access to safe haven for people seeking to reach the US by land.

Foreign travelers and government employees, without compulsory vaccination

The United States is one of the few countries in the world that still requires foreign travelers to carry a vaccination certificate, a measure effective from 2021.

Photo: Reuters

Last week, the US government lifted this requirement, and from next Friday there will be no more need to deliver certificate set foot on American soil.

In addition, the White House announced that federal employees and government contractors would also not need to be vaccinated.

Goodbye Free Trials

While the phasing out of free vaccines and tests will happen gradually over the coming weeks, the lifting of the health emergency at one point or another will mean farewell to their free status.

Photo: Reuters

Until now, any citizen without health insurance could go to pharmacies or clinics to get a vaccine against coronavirus. Similarly, pharmacies distributed tests, and the government itself had a website where citizens could request tests, and they were sent to their homes for free.

Nearly 270 million Americans have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to official figures. 69% of the population American, 230 million people have completed the coronavirus vaccination scheme.

After the emergency ends, Americans will still be able to access vaccines and treatments for covid, but only until government supplies run out, although formulas are being studied to keep them affordable for low-income people without an insured doctor.

(EFE)

Source: Aristegui Noticias

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