The end of the covid emergency

The covid public health emergency is ending this week after more than three years. Today on “Post Reports,” health reporter Dan Diamond breaks down what this means for our day-to-day lives and our future pandemic preparedness.

Federal vaccine mandates and travel requirements will soon be gone as what’s left of the nation’s pandemic emergency response ends this month. The White House’s covid response team is disbanding, too – all with little to no fanfare.

“It feels like slouching across the finish line of a race,” health reporter Dan Diamond tells “Post Reports.” 

“The overall tenor here is not ‘mission accomplished.’ President Biden's not standing on an aircraft carrier with a banner behind him.” 

All in all, it’s a confusing moment of hopes and concerns. For millions of people, this period also marks an end to Medicaid coverage they depended on during the pandemic. Covid isn’t the threat it once was back in 2020 – confirmed deaths and cases have dropped in recent months. But the virus also doesn’t appear to be going away, and some disease experts are warning of the possibility of future waves of omicron-like illnesses.  

“Covid is something I still think about every day,” Diamond says. “But it doesn't govern my life the way that it did earlier in the pandemic.”

Read more:

As pandemic experts leave the White House, some worry: what’s next?

What the end of the covid public health emergency means for you

Why are we forgetting the pandemic already?

WHO declares covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency

Covid is still a leading cause of death as the virus recedes