The White House stated that it will end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11.  The  sweeping pandemic measures to curb the spread of Covid 19 have been in place nearly three years. 

The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were put in place in 2020 by then-President Donald Trump. Biden has repeatedly extended the measures, which allow millions of Americans to receive free tests, vaccines and treatments. The government has been paying for COVID-19 vaccines, some tests and certain treatments under the PHE declaration. When it expires, those costs will be transferred to private insurance and government health plans.

For more information go to CDC.gov

The sooner you act on your COVID-19 symptoms, the better. If you test positive — and are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 — treatments are available to reduce your chances of severe illness.

Here's what you need to know:

• Don't delay — get tested as soon as possible after your symptoms start. Treatment must be started within days after you first develop symptoms to be effective.
• If you test positive, talk to your doctor or healthcare provider right away to find out if treatment is right for you, even if your symptoms are mild. There are multiple options for treating COVID-19 at home or in an outpatient setting.
• Click here for COVID-19 treatments COVID-19 Treatments

If you're symptomatic, you may also want to consider using the Test to Treat program. With thousands of locations nationwide, it can provide faster, easier access to lifesaving COVID-19 treatments. If you test positive, you can see a healthcare provider, and if eligible, get a prescription for an oral COVID-19 treatment and have that prescription filled — all at one location.

Click here to find out more about U.S. Health and Human Services HHS Test to Treat Covid-19 program.

In 2021, for the second consecutive year, life expectancy in the United States dropped according to final mortality data published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Life expectancy is now almost two adn a half years shorter than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic and Covid-19 was a major cause of that decline. Life expectancy declined 1.8 years in 2020 and  0.6 years in 2021.  As a result, life expectancy in 2021 was  76.4 years.

Nearly 1 in 10 deaths in 2020 were due to Covid-19.  That death rate due to Covid-19 increased to 1 in 8 deaths in 2021 making it the third leading cause of death.  The leading causes of death remain heart disease followed by cancer.  these three causes resulted in almost half of all deaths last year.

Another increasing cause of death in 2021 was drug overdose with nearly 107,000 deaths due to drug overdose.

Read more at CNN

Most of the US is no longer masking, following vaccine mandates, or keeping social distances.  But Americans 65 and older and those with compromised immune systems are still at elevated risk from COVID-19.  Most people dying of the coronavirus are 65 and older and are dying at almost two to three times the rate at which people die of the flu.

Track confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. and the spread around the world.

U.S. vaccine distribution and delivery, tracked by state.

Guides: Booster shots | Vaccines | Variants | Masks

Read more at The Washington Post

The estimation is that 80% of Americans have been infected at least once with COVID 19.

And all of us know people who have been infected twice or more with COVID 19.  Many of them have been fully vaccinated.  A new study indicates that they have  a much higher risk of death, hospitalization and other complications compared with people infected once. 

The paper was published November 10, 2022, in Nature Medicine.   It is based on an analysis of electronic medical records of 5.8 million patients in the VA’s national health-care database. Of the 5.8 million records, 443,588 were of individuals infected once, and 40,947 were individuals who had been infected two or more times.  It found that patients with reinfections tended to have more complications in various organ systems both during their initial illness and longer term.  Individuals with a second COVID infection were also more likely to be diagnosed with long COVID. People’s vaccination status or whether they were boosted did not impact the results of the study.

Click here to review the  new study

The symptoms that arise from a case of COVID-19 caused by the now-dominant omicron strain — known as BA.5 — don’t seem to differ from those caused by its parent variant or any of the other omicron offshoots, experts say.

According to the American Medical Association, the most common symptoms of BA.5 are:

• Fever

• Runny nose

• Coughing

• Sore throat

• Headache

• Muscle pain

• Fatigue  

Read more at AARP

Health experts encourage seniors to get their flu shot and COVID booster at the same time.  That way you can check them both off your to-do-list.

COVID-19 cases are surging, fueled by the spread of the more contagious delta variant, just as the flu season is set to begin so it is important for seniors to get both shots this year.  Both diseases are especially dangerous for those over 65.

Last year the flu season was nonexistent. But this year, more cases are expected with K-12 students back in school, more people traveling and fewer COVID-19 restrictions in place.

Read more at AARP

Read more at COVID vaccine recommendations at the CDC

We've read about President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden experiencing Paxlovid rebound following their initial positive COVID diagnosis.  What is Paxlovid rebound and should I be concerned?

You think that you are done-you've quarantined for five days and continue to wear a mask when you are out, and you took Paxlovid, as prescribed by your doctor.  Some individuals who take Paxlovid, and others who test positive but don't take Paxlovid, can  experience a rebound case of Covid-19, including a reappearance of symptoms or positive tests just days after completing treatment and testing negative.

The good news is that the vast majority of people who have a rebound case of Covid-19 after taking Paxlovid have mild symptoms. Sometimes they may come back stronger, as is the case of Dr. Fauci.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, about 4 million courses of Paxlovid have been administered as of mid-August, but there are no additional details about the demographics or health status of those that have received it.

Read more at CNN What you should know about Paxlovid Rebound 

The new guidance is based on the results of a new national study led by rearchers at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, focused on 154 people who tested positive for the virus using P.C.R. tests between October 2021 and February 2022.

It found that among symptomatic people, two tests taken 48 hours apart detected 93 percent of infections. But the same testing pattern detected just 63 percent of infections in asymptomatic people.

When people without symptoms took three tests, each two days apart, the tests caught 79 percent of infections.

Key times to get tested:

• If you have symptoms, test immediately.
• If you were exposed to COVID-19 and do not have symptoms, wait at least 5 full days after your exposure before testing. If you test too early, you may be more likely to get an inaccurate result.
• If you are in certain high-risk settings, you may need to test as part of a screening testing program.
• Consider testing before contact with someone at high risk for severe COVID-19, especially if you are in an area with a medium or high COVID-19 Community Level.

Read more at CDC

Read more at The New York Times