In 2020, there were more deaths from COVID-19 in the United States than any other country, and Americans had relatively high COVID-19 mortality rates. Before the pandemic, the United States had one of the lowest life expectancy rates among high-income countries.

CMS continues to gradually end some emergency blanket waivers allowed under the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for some providers, but for now the 1135 waivers remain intact for acute care and critical access hospitals. The current 90-day PHE declaration was renewed and posted online Wednesday, and is effective through July 15.

CMS continues to gradually end some emergency blanket waivers allowed under the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for some providers, but for now the 1135 waivers remain intact for acute care and critical access hospitals. The current 90-day PHE declaration, effective through April 16, could be renewed as early as next week. However, there is a new note recently added atop HHS’ online list of PHE declarations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has scheduled an April 27 public hearing on establishing a permanent healthcare COVID-19 standard. The agency is seeking input on changes to its June 21, 2021, emergency temporary standard (ETS). All but the recordkeeping provisions of the ETS was withdrawn on December 27.

The United States was inadequately prepared to respond to the coronavirus pandemic such as insufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The country leads the world in COVID-19 deaths, with 991,260 lives lost as of today, according to worldometer.

The CDC’s new framework recommends mask-wearing only for those in counties deemed to have a “high” level of COVID-19, which numbers about 28% of the American population. Community levels by county can be found on the CDC website and are color-coded to denote high, medium, and low risk of COVID.

The recent research article, which was published by JAMA Network Open, features data collected from more than 10,000 individuals under the age of 19 who were hospitalized with COVID-19. Findings of the study were published first in Critical Care Medicine.

The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest public health crisis in generations. The pandemic has strained health systems and hospitals on several fronts, including staffing, supply chain, and finances. In 2020 and 2021, health systems and hospitals received financial assistance from the federal government, but that assistance is dwindling.

More nursing homes are waiting longer for COVID-19 test results for residents and staffers, according to federal data, making the fight against record numbers of omicron cases even harder. The double whammy of slower turnaround times for lab-based PCR tests and a shortage of rapid antigen tests has strained facilities where quickly identifying infections is crucial for keeping a highly vulnerable population safe.